


Lakewood, Continued

by flannery_culp



Category: Scream (TV)
Genre: A Few New Characters - Freeform, F/F, Lakewood Storyline, Let's Pretend This Is What Season 3 Is, Major character death - Freeform, Post-Canon, Third Killer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-07 13:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 26,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11059719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flannery_culp/pseuds/flannery_culp
Summary: Senior year is coming to an end, and the remaining members of the Lakewood Six are trying to move past the horrific events of their past and figure out the next chapter of their lives. But someone else has other plans. Another killer has come to Lakewood. Or maybe, a killer has returned.(How Season 3 might play out if they were wrapping up storylines instead of just starting over)





	1. The Letter, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma gets a letter that she doesn't want to open. Maggie discovers another letter. Something seems weird between Audrey and Gina.

Daisy held her breath, stepping out onto her front lawn for the first time since leaving Lakewood. It was good to be back, she told herself, half believing it.

The house was somehow the same and different at the same time. It was huge, looming over her like a nightmare. She suddenly realized that she couldn't go back in there, not after everything that had happened. The murders had been bad enough, and everything with Brandon, but then after the baby...

She looked over at the James house, out of habit more than anything else. Nothing had changed about that.

Maybe he was home. She knew that that was stupid—even if he was still alive, there was no way that he would be there. But she had to look. Just to be sure.

She walked up to the door, her parents and the car behind her melting away. She felt a calm that she hadn't felt in months wash over her. She knocked on the door three times, just as she always did. She could hear footsteps shuffling through the house, coming first through the kitchen and then through the living room. She had come back to Lakewood thinking that everything was going to be different now, but at least this was something that she could cling onto.

But when the door opened, it wasn't Brandon waiting for her. It was Piper.

"No," Maggie said quietly, shaking her head. "It can't... you can't be..."

"Miss me, Mommy?" Piper asked, tilting her head with a sly smile.

Maggie screamed, jolting herself into a sudden awareness that she was not at the old James house, but in her bed. She tried to slow her heartbeat and control her breathing, but she couldn't. She looked at the clock—4:36 a.m.—and told herself to just go back to sleep, knowing full-well that that wasn't going to happen.

* * *

By the time that Maggie pulled herself together and got downstairs, Emma was already there, nearly finished packing a lunch. 

“You’re awake,” Emma said. “I wasn’t sure, I was about to leave you a note. I’m meeting up with Audrey and Brooke for breakfast before school. I was just about to leave.”

“Alright,” Maggie said. “Tell them that I say hello.”

“I will,” Emma said. She smiled and gave her mother a quick hug before heading towards the door. Maggie poured herself a cup of coffee and looked down at the counter. 

“Emma, what’s this?”

Emma sighed, knowing what her mother was referring to before turning around to see it. It was an envelope addressed to Emma, not much larger than a regular letter but noticeably thick. The Wellesley College logo was emblazoned largely on the front, just in case you weren’t sure what the letter is about.

“Why haven’t you opened it?” Maggie asked.

“I don’t want to,” Emma said.

“It feels like an acceptance letter,” Maggie said. “And even if it’s not, you already got into Lakewood University.”

“Exactly,” Emma said. “And that’s where I’m going. So there’s no point in opening a letter from another college, because whatever it is, it’s not going to change my mind.”

“You could at least look,” Maggie said. “It’s worth considering, isn’t it?”

“I really don’t think it is,” she said. She had applied to Wellesley on a whim more than anything else. Audrey was dead-set on going to college in Boston, and Emma had gone with her to do some college tours. Every college they went to it felt like Audrey was trying to persuade Emma even more than the tour guide was trying to persuade the rest of the group. When they got to Wellesley, Emma finally gave in. It was in part because of Audrey, but in part because she genuinely liked the school. She could see herself going to class in the old brick buildings, and hopping onto Boston’s shitty subway system to visit her friends. She was excited by the prospect of a New England winter, and a Halloween trip to Salem, a thousand miles away from where anything bad had happened to her. And a women’s college. Despite the jokes and assumptions that she knew people would make, she didn’t want to be around men. Not after Keiran.  Maybe she could let her guard down a bit.

She had called her mother that night to tell her, gushing about how much she loved the campus. It seemed, briefly, like she was going to get out of Lakewood and start a new life. 

But that wasn’t possible. At their last stop on the tour, somebody recognized them. Everyone there started asking questions about what had happened, and what it was like to survive what they had been through. By the time the tour was over the prospective students knew more about her and Audrey than about BU. That was when Emma realized that she had to stay in Lakewood. She had come to terms with the fact that people knew who she was, but she couldn’t imagine going through college and having people question her every single day. At least here in Lakewood, everybody already knew the details.

“Take it with you, at least,” Maggie said, handing her the envelope. “Maybe you’ll change your mind later today.”

Emma took it and slipped it into her bag. She had no intention of opening it, but she had no intention of continuing this conversation, either. “Bye Mom,” she said, already halfway out the door. “I’ll see you later.”

Maggie sat down with her coffee, flipping through the rest of the mail. It was mostly the usual—junk mail, a bill, a summons for jury duty that she would never be selected for since she was a medical examiner. But underneath all of that was a small envelope, with no stamps or return address. The only thing written on the outside was “Emma Duval”, in a scratchy handwriting that definitely did not belong to any of Emma’s friends. Maggie’s heart raced as she turned the envelope in her hands, trying to find some identifying sign that would give her peace of mind. It could be a birthday invitation, she told herself. Or a thank you note. But people her age didn’t do that. Emma hadn’t received a physical card from someone other than a distant relative in years. There was something sinister about that envelope, a feeling that she couldn’t quite put a name to but that she had experienced as soon as she picked it up.

The dream had thrown her off, she told herself. Piper was dead. Keiran was dead. All of that was over, and there was nothing to worry about anymore. All the same, she tucked the envelope into her briefcase. Asking Acosta what to do about it couldn’t hurt.

* * *

“So it’s just sitting in your backpack, completely unopened?” Brooke asked. Emma nodded. “I don’t know how you have that kind of willpower. I was checking my NYU acceptance online days before they said they would post it.”

"You  _have_ to open it," Audrey said. "Wellesley is so close to Emerson, we could see each other all the time."

"And Boston is much closer to New York than Lakewood is," Brooke said.

"I just don't see the point of spending the money it would take to go to college somewhere far away," Emma said, making a conscious effort not to do her twirly hair thing since Audrey would immediately know she was lying.

"I don't see how you can stand the idea of staying in this place," Brooke said.

"I'm not opening it," Emma said. "That's final."

"Alright," Audrey said. "What if  _you_ didn't open it?" In one quick motion, she grabbed the envelope out of Emma's hand. "What if somebody else did?"

"Hey," Emma said, reaching for it. "You can't do that. That is a federal offense."

"What, are you going to turn me in?" Audrey asked, tearing open the envelope. She pulled the letter out and began reading it before Emma could stop her. "'Dear Ms. Duval, it is our honor to inform you that you have been accepted to the Wellesley College class of 2018!' You got in!"

Emma wanted to tell her not to get too excited about it, but before she could Audrey had jumped across the table and pulled her into a giant hug. "Just think about it, okay?" she said quietly. "Don't make a commitment just yet." Emma bit her lip and nodded, not knowing what else to say.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Audrey quickly let go of Emma and stood up. "Gina," she said, pulling Gina towards her. "What are you doing here?"

"Just getting coffee," Gina said. "And when I saw that my girlfriend was here I figured I should come and say hello."

"Emma just found out she got into Wellesley," Brooke explained. She put a hand on Emma's shoulder. "We're all very happy for her."

"Wellesley?" Gina asked. "That's... right near Boston, isn't it?"

"Um, yeah," Emma said. "I just thought that it might be nice to have an option outside of Lakewood."

Gina nodded and folded her arms across her chest. "Actually, Audrey, I'm glad that I ran into you. Can I talk to you about something? Privately?"

Audrey nodded, giving Emma and Brooke an apologetic look, and walked outside with Gina.

"God," Brooke said, as soon as they were out of earshot. "It's crazy how threatened that girl is by you."

"She's not threatened," Emma said.

"Are you forgetting about that whole writing on the walls thing?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah but she got over that," Emma said. "I think she just... doesn't like me."

"Well, that may be a part of it," Brooke said. "But I'm telling you, she still sees you as some sort of competition."

"That's ridiculous," Emma said, although she knew it wasn't. After Halloween, there had been a brief period of time where she thought that she and Gina might be able to get along. That had quickly passed, and Gina always seemed to have some excuse not to be with the rest of them. She looked out the window, trying to see what Gina and Audrey were talking about. Gina looked irritated, but that could have been about anything. They always seemed to be arguing these days.

"Well," Brooke said. "If you need once more reason to decide on Wellesley, Gina goes to Lakewood U."

Emma laughed. "You've got a point there."

Audrey came back in and sat down across from them. "Gina's not staying?" Brooke asked.

Audrey shook her head. "We should probably get going, anyway. It's quarter of eight."

"Is she coming to the party tonight?" Brooke asked as she picked up her things.

"I don't think so," Audrey said. "She said she's got a paper due in a few days that she needs to work on. She's not super thrilled about me going, honestly, since it meant moving shifts around."

Brooke gave Emma a pointed look, which Emma pointedly didn't respond to.

"Too bad," Brooke said. "It would have been nice to spend some time with her. I feel like we never do."

"Yeah," Audrey said. "It's... too bad. But let's just go, okay? I really don't want to be late."


	2. The Letter, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie and Acosta examine a crime scene that brings up a possibility Maggie doesn't want to consider. Brooke is making plans for her future.

Maggie hesitated before knocking on the door to Acosta's office. He leaned over to look through the window and motioned for her to come inside.

"Just who I was looking for," he said. "Take a seat, Maggie." Maggie sat down, surprised at the formality.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Acosta took a deep breath. "Cassie James was killed last night," he said. "The kid who delivers her groceries discovered her this morning; I just got the call. It looks like an armed robbery."

"Oh my God," Maggie said.

"You are by no means required to come to the house," Acosta said. "I'm sure we can call in someone else."

"No, no," Maggie said. She had seen worse, she reminded herself. She had examined Brooke covered in Jake Fitzgerald's blood; reached into the mouth of the slashed up body of her boyfriend. "I'll go. It's important that I see the body in situ."

"I can drive you over," Acosta said. "We better get going now."

Maggie nodded and picked up her things. "I'll just need to go grab some gloves."

"Was there something you wanted to ask me?" he asked. "I know I distracted you but it looked like you had something to tell me when you came in."

Maggie thought about the envelope sitting in her purse. She had planned on telling him when she came in, but now didn't seem like the time. "No," she said. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

* * *

 

“How badly do you think I would have to do on finals for MIT to rescind their acceptance?” Noah asked. They were all sitting on the quad, trying to make the most of the mid-March sunshine.

“Don't even talk about that,” Brooke said. “Why start stressing about finals now when we could be distracting ourselves instead?” She shifted her weight, leaning onto her elbows. “Any drink requests for tonight? This might be my last chance to go shopping in the Maddox liquor cabinet.”

“Then we better make the most of it,” Audrey said. “Grab some of your top-shelf whiskey. Whatever looks best.”

Brooke smiled. “I'm on it,” she said. “Anyone else?”

“Anything you can find is fine by me,” Emma said. “I just can't believe you're actually doing this.”

“I can,” Brooke said. “It's about damn time, too.”

“She's been counting down the days,” Stavo said. “Literally. With a calendar and everything.”

“Wait until you guys see it,” Brooke said. “It's a one-bedroom with a cute little patio and this gorgeous view of the sunset…”

She had told them all about about the house countless times, but she got so excited about it that none of them could bear to stop her. It would be good for her to get out of that huge house, away from all of the memories.

Emma's phone buzzed. “Oh my God,” she said, reading the text from her mother.

“What is it?” Audrey asked. There was no mistaking the hint of fear in her voice.

“Cassie James is dead,” Emma said. “She was killed in a break-in. No official statement yet, but my mom and Sheriff Acosta are on their way over now.”

“Oh my God,” Audrey said. “That's awful.”

“Were there any signs of foul play?” Noah asked, his mind already on the next episode of the Morgue.

“Why would they suspect foul play?” Brooke asked. “She's an old lady living alone on the outskirts of town. I mean I'm sorry it happened, but she seems like a pretty typical target.”

“Nothing related to the James family is typical,” Noah said. “I mean, what would someone break into her house for? Maybe it was a random break-in, but maybe someone was looking for something in particular. Some sort of Brandon James artifact.”

Emma stiffened, and the world went quiet. She instinctively reached for Audrey's hand, and found it closer than she had expected it to be. They both knew what that could mean.

“Let's not jump to any conclusions,” Brooke said. “We all have enough to think about. Like what you’re all going to bring me as housewarming gifts.”

 

* * *

 

Maggie took a deep breath, and took the last photograph she needed of the body in situ. It was horrible to see her like this, a ghost of the woman she had grown up next door to. It had been easy not to think about her for all of these years. Cassie had hated her after everything that happened with Brandon. But looking at her lying helpless on the floor, Maggie thought back to the when she and Brandon were kids. She had practically been a second mother to Maggie with how often she was over at the house. She baked cookies and knit blankets, and she let them eat on TV trays in the living room.

Maggie looked up at the sound of Acosta footsteps. “Anything out of the ordinary?” he asked.

“Blunt force trauma to the head,” Maggie said. “Nothing around the body looks like it could have been the weapon. Her attacker probably thought she wasn't home or wouldn't wake up, and killed her when she found them.”

“They ransacked her room,” Acosta said. “But they left valuables. There's jewelry sitting in plain sight.”

Maggie swallowed. “What does that mean?”

“It could mean a few things,” he said. “It's possible that the robbery is a coverup for the murder. It's also possible that the killer wasn't here for valuables, but for something else.” He sighed. “Look, I know you aren't going to want to talk about this, but do you think there's any way—”

“Don't even start,” Maggie snapped.

Acosta dropped his voice. “We don't know what happened after we left that day,” he whispered. “And if he killed all of those students, it's possible that—”

“That he killed his own mother?” Maggie asked. “No, it's not. You didn't know him like I did.”

He looked her dead in the eyes. “You still don't think he did it, do you?” Maggie bit her lip. That was all the answer he needed. “I don't want to put you in a tough spot, Maggie. But I don't want to rule out that possibility, either.”

Maggie turned away, unable to look him in the eye. “Have you notified next of kin?” she asked.

“I will when I get back to the station.” He put a hand on Maggie's shoulder. “Maggie, if what I think is happening is happening… we're not going to play by the book this time. I'll do whatever it takes to keep our kids safe.”

Maggie thought about the letter, still sitting in the bottom of her bag. “It can't be happening,” she said. “We can't go through this again.”

 


	3. The Letter, Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma arrives at Brooke's party to discover that Brooke has a surprise in store. Brooke makes the most of her new place. Maggie finally makes a decision about the letter.

"Em _ma_ ," Brooke said, throwing her arms around Emma as soon as she had walked across the threshold. "I'm  _so_ glad you're here." She was clearly already tipsy, so Emma gave her a pat on the back and made her way in.

"Glad I'm here too, Brooke," Emma said. She pulled a bottle of wine out of her bag. "I know it's not as nice as the stuff you stole from your Mom's old stash, but I figured that if you've got your own place, you should really have a bottle of Three Buck Chuck for the true, starting-out-on-your-own experience. And also, I got you something nice online that was supposed to be here by now and it's not."

Brooke smiled, turning the bottle over in her hands. "Ooh, merlot," she said. "Come in, come in. See the new place."

Emma walked through the little entryway and discovered that the party was in full swing. The rest of the group was there, along with a surprising number of people she recognized from school but didn't know very well. There were more people out on the patio, too. There had to be twenty or thirty guests, at least.

"Emma!" Audrey said, jumping up. "Do you want a drink? I'm bartending."

"In that case," Emma said, "surprise me."

Audrey winked. "Follow me," she said. "If you want to see the kitchen. The countertops are to die for."

"Go," Brooke said. "I have to work the crowd, but I'll circle back later."

Emma smiled, and followed Audrey into the kitchen. Audrey dragged a hand across the kitchen island. "Travertine is the new granite, according to Brooke."

"Leave it to Brooke to know the highest quality countertop material," Emma said. As soon as Brooke had decided that she was moving out for her 18th birthday, she had learned everything there was to know about real estate. Only the best for Brooke Maddox. Emma didn't know exactly how much this place had cost, but she knew that it was pricey for a one-bedroom, and it was clear that Brooke's definition of "cozy" was different than hers.

Audrey grabbed a bottle of gin and started mixing a drink. It was well-known that if you wanted to drink something that was actually good, Audrey was the one to go to. She was the majority of the reason that Emma had graduated from poorly-mixed vodka drinks and shots of cheap tequila. She watched how steadily Audrey's hands moved as she switched between bottles, pouring without having to measure anything.

"Here you go," she said, handing Emma a glass. "G&T, with a twist."

"What's the twist?"

"Didn't you watch me make it?"

"You were going too fast," Emma said. "I didn't see what the last thing was."

"Lavender liquor," Audrey said. "I thought that helping to stock the bar would be a nice housewarming gift."

Emma took a sip of her drink, light and sweet. It tasted like springtime. "You did well."

Audrey sipped her own drink—bourbon neat—and leaned back against the travertine counter. "It's a little different than the usual Maddox party, isn't it?"

"There's no killer chasing after us," Emma said. "So that's a relief."

"And I was actually invited to this party," Audrey said. "So that's pretty cool."

"Come on," Emma said. "It's not like you just showed up there unannounced or something."

"You're right," Audrey said. "I correct myself: I was invited to this party by the person actually hosting it. And said host is not upset that I'm here." Emma took another sip of her drink, not sure of what to say. "I'm glad, though. That you invited me. Who knows if the two of us would have ever become friends again if I hadn't come."

"There you  _are_ ," Brooke said, walking into the room. She was dragging a boy by the wrist along with her. "I didn't realize you two were still in here. Emma, this is Chase. You know him, right? From English?"

"Bio," Chase corrected. "Hey, Emma, nice to see you." He gave her a little wave. Emma smiled and waved back.

"Right," Brooke said. "Audrey, I actually wanted to show you something. Outside? On the patio?" She looked back and forth between Audrey and Emma in a way that Emma assumed Brooke must have thought was subtle.

"Okay..." Audrey said. She looked back at Emma apologetically as Brooke took her outside.

"So..." Chase said. "This is... maybe one of the more awkward ways that someone has tried to set me up with someone?"

"Yeah," Emma said, taking a big sip of her drink. "Me too."

* * *

 "Brooke," Emma said, finally catching her after looking through most of the house. She was standing in her bedroom, away from the rest of the party, looking wistfully out the window. Emma had just managed to ditch Chase after fifteen minutes of very awkward and very forced conversation, claiming that she had just remembered something important that she had forgotten to tell Brooke.

"Emma," Brooke said, turning around. "So, did you have fun talking to Chase?" She wiggled her shoulders, just slightly.

"That's why I came up here to find you," Emma said. "Why did you do that?"

"I thought you would like him," Brooke said. "You're both, like, smart and stuff." Emma swallowed. She had been smart, before any of this had happened. Straight A's in honors classes. But being pursued by multiple murderers had diverted her attention from schoolwork. She still got decent grades, but she was pretty sure that it was out of pity more than anything else.

Brooke's face fell. "You didn't like him, did you? I did a bad job choosing."

"It's not that," Emma said. She bit her lip, trying to choose the right words. It was so much easier to hurt Brooke than it had been before, and she didn't want to say the wrong thing. "I just don't want to date anyone right now. I thought I had told you that."

"You  _did_ tell me that," Brooke said. "Many times. But I want you to be happy, Em. I know it's hard to move on, but having Stavo has made my life so much better. It's made it  _bearable_. And I want you to have that too."Emma nodded. It was the most that she could do.

Emma nodded. It was the most that she could do. It was different for Brooke. Brooke had suffered through tragedy. She had grieved. She had mourned. It had been awful. But the person who had made it awful wasn't Jake. Brooke hadn't dated a killer. She hadn't slept with him. She hadn't told him she loved him. Brooke could trust herself in a way that Emma never, ever could.

"I'm sorry if I fucked up," Brooke said.

"You didn't fuck up," Emma said. "Just don't do it again, okay?" She gave Brooke a hug, and Brooke clung on to her. She must have hit her sappy level of drunk, and Emma wished that she could be there with her.

"Hey Brooke," Audrey said. Emma looked up. Audrey was leaning against the doorway, her thumbs tucked into the belt loops of her jeans. "Someone was looking for you downstairs. Jess, I think?"

"Jess!" Brooke exclaimed. "She made it. I have to go say hi." She brushed past Audrey and out of the room.

"Guess we don't get an explanation of who Jess is," Audrey said. "It was weird, I swear I've never seen her before." Emma shrugged, and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Hey, are you okay?" Audrey asked. Emma nodded. Audrey walked across the room and sat down next to her. "You know, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but there's no point in lying to me."

Emma sighed. "It's just a lot," she said.

"The party?"

"The concept of dating someone," Emma said. "After everything that happened. It's just..."

"It's hard," Audrey said.

"But Brooke's doing it," Emma said. " _You're_ doing it."

Audrey shrugged. "We went through different things than you did."

Emma rested her head on Audrey's shoulder. At least there was one person who understood. "Hey, how are you getting home tonight?"

"Walking," Audrey said. Her house was only a few blocks away. "Why?"

"Is there any chance I could go with you and spend the night?" Emma asked. "I kind of really want to get wasted right now."

Audrey's phone buzzed. It had fallen out of her pocket and was sitting between them on the bed. Emma could see that it was a text from Gina, but Audrey didn't answer. "Yeah," Audrey said. "Yeah, that should be fine."

There was a far-off tone to her voice, like she was thinking about something else. "Are you sure?" Emma asked. "I don't have to, I can just go home."

"And deprive you of getting drunk after an awkward experience with a dude?" Audrey said. "I would never dream of it."

* * *

Maggie looked at the unopened letter, sitting on the kitchen table in front of her.

If this really was happening, she couldn't just ignore it. Whoever it was, it wouldn't be long before they found some other way to get to Emma. Emma had texted a while ago to let her know that she wasn't coming home, and Maggie had almost told her about it. But it was better to figure it out first, she told herself. Maybe this was all just a prank. Maybe there was nothing to worry Emma over.

She slid her finger under the top of the envelope and opened it up, careful not to tear the part where Emma's name was written. Inside was a photograph of Emma. She was young, just a kid, and her eyes had been scratched out. Maggie inhaled, trying to stay calm. It must have been something that someone had found on the internet—a throwback photo that Emma had put on facebook at some point. But the photo felt as old as it looked, a paper quality that Maggie recognized from the days where she went to get her film developed at the pharmacy.

She flipped the picture over, thinking that a brand name on the back might give her some clue. There, written in the same scrawled handwriting as the front of the card, was a clear message:

_This isn't over._

 


	4. Let's All Go to the Movies, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma discovers what her mother has been hiding. Brooke and Stavo talk about making a big step. Everyone tries to figure out how to move forward if what they think is happening is happening.

The next morning, Emma tried to come back into the house as quickly and quietly as she possibly could, but when she walked into the kitchen, it was clear that she had still startled her mother. Maggie was sitting at the kitchen table, her hair a mess and her glasses askew on her face.

"Were you asleep?" Emma asked, setting her bag down by the stairs.

"I must have dozed off," Maggie said. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.

"Did you ever go to bed?"

"No, I was... working on something." Maggie collected the paper in front of her, and tried to stuff it into the envelope.

"That doesn't look like paperwork," Emma said, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "What is it?"

"Oh it's nothing," Maggie said. But the photo wouldn't go back into the envelope, and in an attempt to get a better angle, Maggie had made the mistake of lifting it above the table.

"Is that... addressed to me?" Emma asked. Before Maggie could say anything, Emma took the envelope out of her hands and flipped it over. There was her name, clear against the empty white background. "Did you open my mail?" she asked.

"I just wanted to—"

Before Maggie could stop her, Emma had pulled the photo out of the envelope. She stared down at the picture of her as a child, smiling up at the camera, her bright eyes crossed out. Her breath caught in her throat. It couldn't be happening again. She couldn't go through this again.

"You weren't going to tell me," she finally said. "You were going to hide this from me, weren't you?"

"I just wanted to make sure it was real," Maggie said. "I didn't want to frighten you over some stupid prank."

"And you didn't think I should be prepared in case it wasn't?" Emma asked. She could feel the anger starting in her chest, coming up and crashing against her. Good. Let it take over. Anger is always better than fear. "Don't you think this would be good information to have if I get another phone call? Or if one of my friends ends up dead?"

"I'm so sorry, Emma," Maggie said. "I just wanted to—"

"Save it," Emma said. She got up from the table, grabbed her keys, and fumbled for her phone in her bag. "I don't want to anything from you right now."

Maggie tried to protest, but Emma was already out the door. She couldn't blame her for leaving. She should have told her.

* * *

 Brooke opened her eyes to the bright sunshine, and rolled over in bed to see Stavo, still asleep. She thought about waking him for a moment—kissing him on the cheek, or maybe the forehead—but decided against it. It was nice just to watch him sleep for a moment, to see how peaceful the look on his face was.

Peace. It was strange to finally feel that.

She slipped out of bed, careful to move the mattress as little as possible, and put her robe around her shoulders before heading downstairs to make coffee. She put the water on to boil, ground the coffee, and put the grounds into the french press. The house was still a bit of a mess from the night before. There were empty cups strewn about, and the smell of liquor hung in the air. Brooke lit the tea light under her wax melter, waiting for the house to fill with the scent of roses and peach blossom, and smiled. It was her first morning in her first house, and the hint of a hangover that she felt would do nothing to stop her from enjoying it.

She finished the coffee, and brought a mug back up to bed with her. Stavo woke up just as she sat down, stretching one arm up above her head.

"Good morning," Brooke said. "Want some coffee?"

"In a minute," Stavo said. He was so beautiful laying in that bed, his hair a mess and his eyes still adjusting, that she couldn't help but kiss him. She didn't even mind the taste of his mouth in the morning, steel beer and unbrushed teeth. "I think I could get used to this," he said.

"Then I guess we'll have to do it more often," Brooke said.

"How often are you thinking?" Stavo said, sitting up.

Brooke took a sip of her coffee, black and bitter, the tried and true hangover cure. "I don't know," she said. "It's kind of fun playing house with you. And we're going to be living together in New York, anyway. Maybe we should just start the process now."

Stavo looked at her. "Are you asking me to move in with you?"

She hadn't meant to, not really, but once she had suggested it she realized that it was exactly what she wanted. She had spent so much time talking about how this was  _her_ new house, but when it really came down to it, she couldn't imagine waking up in that bed without him there. "It seems like the rational step to take," she said, not quite ready to show her hand.

"I don't think my dad's going to go for it," he said. She nodded, not wanting to pressure him. The last thing she wanted was for him to agree to move in out of pity. "But I'll talk to him, okay? See if I can't convince him."

Brooke's phone buzzed on the dresser, half a second before Stavo's did. "I've got it," Brooke said, knowing that it would be their groupchat. She looked down at the message. It was from Emma:  _SOS. Need to meet somewhere right now. In private. Not my house. Where can we go?_

Brooke replied:  _Come over here. About as private as it gets._

The replies came quickly, a thank you from Emma and Noah and Audrey saying they would be there as soon as possible. Brooke tried not to worry too much. There were a lot of reasons that Emma could want everyone to meet up. "Get dressed," she said, patting Stavo on the shoulder. "We've got company."

* * *

"So what do you guys think?" Emma asked. They were in Brooke's living room, arranged around the photograph, which was sitting on the coffee table.

They were quiet for awhile, all staring at the picture. Audrey was the first to speak up. "I think we should be prepared," she said. "There's a decent chance someone just did it to psych you out, but I think that we should be ready."

"Do you know anyone who would have access to this picture?" Noah asked.

Emma shrugged. "Kieran could have stolen it at some point," she said. "I mean, he had that big collection at the pig farm."

"But didn't that collection go into evidence?" Noah asked.

"It wouldn't be the first time that something pertaining to this case was stolen from evidence," Audrey said, quietly.

"Maybe there's a copycat," Noah said. "Or maybe there was someone else involved all along. Someone orchestrating it. There were some loose ends that I never quite figured out." The wheels were already turning in his head, the next episode of the Morgue starting to form.

Brooke looked up at them for the first time. "I don't think I can do this again," she said.

"Hopefully we won't have to," Audrey said. "But if we do, we stick together. No trying to protect each other. No lying. No secrets." She looked at Emma, the apology something that had been said out loud so many times that she didn't need to say it again for Emma to know she meant it. "We need to just put everything out on the table."

"Agreed," Stavo said. The rest of them nodded.

"I'm so sorry," Emma said. "Whatever's happening... I'm so sorry that it's happening."

"Don't," Audrey said, the apology back on her face. She took Emma's hands, and Emma tried to send an apology back.

"We'll get through this," Audrey said. "We'll all make it through this."

* * *

When Emma returned home, her mother was in the same place that she had left her. She had cleaned herself up; washed her hair and changed into new clothes. But she looked just as bad as she had this morning. Possibly worse.

"Hey," she said quietly. Maggie turned around. "I'm sorry I stormed out. That was... not the best way to handle this."

Maggie shook her head. "I didn't handle it very well either."

Emma took a seat at the table. "I don't know if this is happening again," she said. "But if it is, we need to be honest with each other. We need to communicate. And that's on my end too, but I... I don't want to keep these secrets from each other. It's not safe."

"I agree," Maggie said. "And I'm going to look into this with Acosta. Off the record. We know better than to try and play by the rules now."

Emma nodded. "We're ready then?" she asked. "If something happens?"

"As ready as we can be," Maggie said.

Emma jumped when her phone buzzed, certain of the worst, but it was only Chase.

"What's going on?" Maggie asked.

"Just this guy from Brooke's housewarming," Emma said. "Brooke was trying to set him up with me, and now he's asking if I want to go see a movie."

Maggie crossed her arms. "I don't want to tell you what to do, but I don't really feel comfortable with you going out with a boy you don't know. Not with everything that's going on right now."

"Don't worry about it," Emma said. She put the phone back in her pocket without answering. "I'm not going."

 

 


	5. Let's All Go to the Movies, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma gets another note. Maggie tells Acosta what's going on. Emma takes a chance on something that she still isn't sure about.

When Emma walked into school on Monday, she expected that everyone would somehow know. She waited for the panic to set in, for half of the students to stare at her and the others to avoid her gaze at all costs.Instead, it was a normal school day. 

Instead, it was a normal school day. People were carrying on as usual, making their way to class or talking to their friends. The hallway was filled with people talking and the sound of lockers opening and closing. The world was continuing, and none of Lakewood knew that there might be a new killer on the loose. It was almost enough to convince Emma that there wasn't one.

And then she got to her locker. Right there, taped to the front, was another note. A piece of notebook paper folded in half, nothing written on the front that would reveal who it had come from. Emma's heart was pounding as she took the note down, her fingers trembling so much that she could barely get it open.

_Emma, I know this is dumb and I know that you almost definitely got my text, but I would kick myself if I didn't double check, so I figured I would give the old-fashioned way a try. I know things were kind of weird at Brooke's party, but it would be nice to get to know you better in a less-awkward setting. Any chance you would be interested in hanging out? Maybe catch a movie with me and avoid doing our bio homework? —Chase_

Emma relaxed. It was just Chase. There was clearly no need to be afraid of him. More than anything, she just felt bad.

"What's that?" Audrey asked, popping up beside Emma.

"A note from Chase," Emma said, folding the paper back up and slipping it into her back pocket. "He's inviting me to a movie."

"With a note on your locker?" Audrey asked. "What, were there no carrier pigeons available?"

Emma opened her locker and pulled out a textbook. "I didn't answer his text over the weekend," she said. "He wanted to make sure that I got it."

"Jesus," Audrey said. She leaned back against the locker next to Emma's. "So I take it you're going to say no?"

"I feel bad," Emma said. "I mean, he seems nice enough. I think he just wants a fair chance. One where I'm not being ambushed by Brooke."

"So... you  _are_ considering it?"

"Of course not," Emma said. "I just have to figure out a way to tell him 'it's not you, it's me' without actually saying those words."

"You know, I'm working tonight," Audrey said. "Maybe it's worth giving him a shot. If things don't go well, you could always come hide behind the concession stand. I think I could even slip you some food since I'm on pretty good terms with the manager."

"Maybe," Emma said. Not that Gina would ever allow that.

"If you want to, I mean. I know you're not into the idea of dating someone right now, but it sounds kind of like you want to give him a chance. It's not like this has to go anywhere serious."

Emma considered it. Chase was a nice. He was good-looking enough, not in the way that Kieran or Alex had been, with a hint that there was something underneath all that, but in the regular-guy sort of way. Like Will, almost. The kind of guy who maybe you couldn't trust fully, but you could at least trust not to be murdering your friends behind your back.

And if nothing else, this would at least be a distraction from everything else going on.

"I guess I might," Emma said. "But just for the popcorn."

"Better make up your mind," Audrey said. "Because here he comes."

As Emma turned to see Chase coming towards her, Audrey gave her a quick pat on the back and headed in the opposite direction. "Hey," Chase said, reaching a hand behind his head. "I take it you, uh, found my note?"

"I did," Emma said, closing her locker.

"Well," Chase said. "I'm a glutton for punishment, so... what do you think?"

Emma bit her lip. "I would be happy to go to a movie with you," she said. "As long as it's on the early side. I can't avoid that bio homework for too long."

Chase smiled, his eyes lighting up in a way that Emma had missed. "I think I can do that," he said.

* * *

Acosta knocked on the door of Maggie's office. "You shad something you wanted to talk about?" Maggie nodded, standing up to close the door behind him.

"It's off the record," she said, taking her seat. Acosta nodded, and sat down across from her. Maggie pulled the envelope out of her purse. She had put it inside an evidence bag, knowing that any DNA evidence was almost definitely compromised but hoping that she could preserve the handwriting.

"Jesus," Acosta said, flipping it over in his hands. "Does Emma know?" Maggie nodded. "And you think it's serious?" She nodded again.

"I think it's one of the photos from the pig farm," Maggie said.

"The ones Wilcox had?" Acosta asked.

"Maybe someone stole them from evidence," she said. "Or maybe there were more somewhere."

"I'll check the evidence room to see if anything's missing," Acosta asked. "And we'll go to the pig farm. Maybe there's something that we missed."

"Or something that wasn't there a year ago," Maggie added.

"Or maybe Cassie James had it."

"It's possible," Maggie said. Cassie might have had some pictures of Emma. "But that can't be all that they broke in there for."

"No," Acosta said. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. "But I don't think we could rule out a connection. Speaking of the James case, we contacted Troy James. He's coming to pick up his mother's ashes, but he chose not to have any sort of service in Lakewood."

"I'm not surprised," Maggie said.

"I think you should reach out to him when he's here," Acosta said. "He hadn't been close with his mother for awhile, and I think that's making this harder on him."

"I'm not sure that he wants to hear from me," Maggie said. They hadn't spoken in over a decade. They had gotten into a big fight, starting with an argument about Kevin and ending with a blow-out about Brandon. It was shortly after that that he had moved away, never giving her an address or phone number to contact.

"He might not," Acosta said. "But it's worth a try."

Maggie nodded. "I'll think about it," she said. "But it's going to have to take a back seat."

"Of course," Acosta said. "He won't be here for a week. Hopefully by then, we'll have figured something out."

* * *

Emma checked her phone. Still nothing from Chase. Previews were already starting, and he still wasn't here.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," Emma said. "I should have known."

"There's still time," Audrey said. It was 4:30 on a Monday afternoon, so the theater was far from packed. Emma was hanging out at the concession stand, where she and Chase had agreed to meet, already starting in on the popcorn that she told Gina she paid for. "Maybe he's running late."

"Or maybe I'm being stood up for the first time in my life," Emma said.

"Happens to the best of us," Audrey said.

Emma tried not to be disappointed. It was stupid to care at all. She hadn't even wanted to do this. But now that she was here, certain he wasn't going to show up, she couldn't help but feel miserable. Maybe there was a part of her that wanted to be with someone after all. Probably not the first guy that Brooke threw at her. But someone.

"Hey," Audrey said. "If you keep looking like that, I'm not going to be able to stop myself by giving you a one-hundred percent discount on this overpriced candy."

"If that's the case, then I should get stood up more often."

Audrey looked around the corner to make sure that Gina wasn't there, and pulled out a box of Emma's favorite.

"Are you providing customers with free concessions?"

Shit. She always showed up at the worst moments.

"Of course not," Emma said, pulling her wallet out and handing Audrey a couple of dollars.

Gina smiled. "Good," she said. She waited, watching Audrey put the money into the register. "It's nothing personal, I'm just a stickler for the rules. Hoping for a promotion to regional manager soon."

"That's awesome," Emma said. "I hope you get it." Nothing she did seemed to win Gina over, so she had taken to smiling and nodding. And if Gina was there less often, she might actually get free snacks.

Gina turned to Audrey, as if Emma wasn't there. "Well, I'm on my way out. Call me if you have any trouble closing." She gave Audrey a kiss on the cheek and left.

"Sorry about the candy," Audrey said. "She really is a stickler for the rules."

"It's fine," Emma said. She checked her phone again. Nothing. And the movie had probably already started by now. "I actually think I'm going to head home. Throw myself a little pity party."

"Are you sure?" Audrey asked. "I feel like I owe you. We could sneak into the back row of a movie. I'll take pictures of you and send them to Chase to make him jealous."

Emma laughed. "That's very kind of you," she said. "But I shouldn't have even done this, my mother's probably wondering where I am."

"Alright," Audrey said. "I'll see you tomorrow." She hugged Emma across the counter. "And if I ever see Chase again, I'm beating him up. No one stands up Emma Duval and gets away with it."

 


	6. Let's All Go to the Movies, Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma tries not to worry about getting stood up, but one phone call will change that.

"You're home late," Maggie said when Emma walked in. "I was starting to get worried." She was standing at the sink, her eyes focused on the dishes that she was washing instead of Emma. It was an ordinary image—a mother in domestic action, wondering when her daughter would be home and if she should be concerned—but Emma could see everything underneath it. Her gaze was forced, her hands unsteady. Damn it. She really should have texted her.

"I was at the movie theater with Audrey," Emma said. She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Monday afternoons are pretty slow so I thought I would keep her company for a little while."

Maggie turned to look at her. The sign of rejection must have been clear on Emma's face, because her mother suddenly looked worried. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

Emma sighed. "I was actually supposed to go on a date," she confessed. "But I got stood up."

Maggie's face hardened. "You were going on a date?" she asked. "With that boy who texted you?"

"Yes," Emma said.

"You told me you weren't going to go out with him."

"I wasn't," Emma said. "And then I changed my mind."

"And you didn't think that you should tell me you changed your mind?" Maggie asked.

"I didn't think I needed to." Emma was suddenly furious. It wasn't just Chase standing her up. It was the way that Gina talked to her, and the way that Audrey let her. And now her mother yelling at her for just trying to be a normal person for one afternoon. "I went to a public place, in the middle of the afternoon,  _with_ Audrey there in case I needed an out."

"And when has any of that made a difference?" Maggie asked. "When have any of those things stopped the people you care about from being killed?"

Emma didn't have a response. It was a low blow, and Maggie knew it. But it was also true. None of them had the luxury of being safe, no matter how many precautions they took.

"I'm sorry," Maggie said, her face softening. "And I'm sorry that you got stood up. I'm just worried about you, Emma. I can't... I want you to be safe. That's all." Emma nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "Why don't you go relax for awhile, alright? I'll heat up some leftovers when you come back down." Emma nodded again, and headed upstairs.

* * *

Emma leaned back in the bathtub, allowing the hot water and sweet-smelling bubbles to relax her body even if she couldn't get her mind to stop running. She tried to do the mindfulness meditation that her therapist had taught her: The water was warm. She could feel the bubbles on her knees and her neck. The room smelled like lavender and vanilla. The water rocked gently, back and forth. If she really focused, she could feel it moving.

Her phone rang, vibrating loudly against the marble of the bathroom counter and pulling her out of her meditation. Not that it was working very well anyway. Therapists loved to give you exercises like that, to feel like they were actually doing something instead of just confirming your trauma.

Emma pulled herself up out of the bath, just enough to see who was calling. It was Chase. She sank back down in the tub, and let the call go to her voicemail. If he had ignored her all afternoon, he could wait awhile before she called him back. This time, the power would be in her hands.  _That_ was doing something.

She held her breath, waiting for the phone to stop ringing. Soon the silence returned, a calm settling over the room. But the silence was short-lived: her phone rang again, almost immediately. Emma tried to ignore it, sinking deeper into the bath until only her face was above the surface of the water. The water dulled the sound, but her phone was still ringing. She got out of the tub and toweled off, deciding that this clearly wasn't going to end until she listened to whatever it was that Chase wanted to say.

"Nice of you to call two hours after we were supposed to meet up," Emma said.

"Sorry I couldn't make it," said the voice on the other end. But it wasn't Chase. It was _the_ voice; the one that had tormented her for the past two years, that she had only heard in her dreams for months now. She half expected to wake up, but she had gone through this in real life enough to know the difference. She was hyper aware of her state of being: the voice on the phone, the water dripping from her hair, the fact that her hands were dry while her legs were still damp. This was what mindfulness was for her.

"Chase really did want to see you," the voice said. "But he and I were a little busy."

Emma switched her phone to speaker, her fingers shaking so bad that she could barely hold it, and ran down the stairs. "What did you do?" Emma asked. "What did you do to him?" Emma reached the bottom of the stairs, and Maggie ran in to see what was going on.

"Let's just say that he and I are spending some quality time together," the voice said. Maggie's eyes widened. Emma mouthed for her to get her phone and record.

"Where is he?" Emma asked.

"Oh, Emma," the voice said. "Do you really think I'm going to tell you? You must know how this game works by now."

"I'm not playing any more games," Emma said.

"I was going to give you a hint, but I don't like your tone," he said. "Have fun trying to find your new boy toy on your own."

"This is supposed to be over," Emma said. "Kieran and Piper are dead. This should be over."

He laughed. Actual, genuine laughter. "It's not over until I say it's over," he said. The line went silent.

"Please tell me you got that," Emma said, quietly.

Maggie nodded. "Most of it," she said. "I'm going to call Acosta right now. You have Chase's number, maybe they can track his phone."

"And that's it?" Emma asked. "We just sit here and let the police take care of it? I thought we weren't playing by the rules this time."

"Sometimes the rules make sense," Maggie said. "And this is one of those times. We don't have enough information to go looking ourselves. And if there really is another killer out there, even if we're working on our own, the police should be on it too. You go get dressed, and I'll call them and let them know. I'll take care of it."

Emma nodded, her heart still racing. There was no point in going out on a blind search for him. But still, she couldn't just sit around.

She walked up the stairs, and did the only thing that she felt like she could do: call Audrey.

* * *

When Chase came to, everything was fuzzy. He picked his head up and looked around, trying to figure out where he was. It must have been evening, the sky dim but not dark. From what he could see, he was in an empty parking lot. There was a building off in the distance, too far away for him to read the unlit neon sign, and a highway out past that. He stretched his leg to walk over, and found that he couldn't. His arms, either. He was completely stuck. He looked down, and realized that he was tied to something. A pole. He focused his vision on the building in the distance, and realized that it was the old drive-in; the one that had been closed down when he was a little kid.

"Help!" he screamed. He tried to think back to earlier. Who could have done this? What was going on? Everything was a blur. "Help! Somebody help me!"

Suddenly, the speakers blared, and Emma's voice was piped through. "Hey, Chase, it's me. I'm at the movie theater and it's about... twenty-ish minutes until the movie starts? I'm at concessions hanging out with Audrey, let me know when you get here and I'll come find you."

Emma. The movies. Shit.

"Hello?" he screamed. "Please, somebody! Help! Help!"

Another message played, so loud that Chase could feel the sound shaking the pole. "Hey, it's me again. This is probably dumb, but I haven't heard back from you. Just wanted to let you know I'm still here, previews have started but if you get here soon we can totally sneak in in time for the movie."

A figure came out of the building, a silhouette against the darkening sky. Chase almost screamed out to them, but then thought better of it. He was finally realizing that someone had tied him to this pole, and that chances were they had stuck around. As the figure got closer, he could start to make out their features. Black, long, clothing. A white face.

Shit.

"No," he said. "No, no, no. No."

The figure got closer, and there was no mistaking it now. He was wearing the mask, and holding a knife in his hand.

"Please," Chase said. "Please, if this is about Emma, I barely even know her." He was close, now, standing feet away. "We never even went on a date. You're not going to get to her through me. If you let me go I'll run away, I'll go anywhere, I won't tell anyone, I swear, I—"

Without a word, he slashed Chase's throat.

 

 


	7. Back at the Ranch, Part 1

Emma jolted awake to the sound of her phone, reaching over to her bedside table to turn her alarm off. But it wasn't her alarm. The sound was too harsh; the loud blaring siren rather than the rippling sound that she usually woke up to. Still half asleep, she tried to read the message on her screen.

"What's going on?" Audrey asked, sitting up next to Emma and reaching for her own phone. The second that Emma realized that Audrey's phone was going off too was the same moment that she remembered what had happened the night before. Emma watched as Audrey opened the message—a link, she realized.

"Oh my god," Audrey said. It was a video. Chase, tied to a pole somewhere, bleeding from the throat. No sound except for cars on the highway.

"Mom," Emma called, throwing the covers off of her and bolting down the hall with Audrey right behind her. "Mom! Mom!"

"What's going on?" Maggie asked, stumbling out of her room.

Emma handed Maggie her phone. Maggie clicked the link, and the same video that had been sent to Audrey popped up. "That's him," Emma said. "That's Chase."

"Oh no," Maggie said quietly. "You both got this?" Audrey nodded. "It's the old drive-in. I'm calling 911 and then Acosta. I talked to him a few hours ago and they were still out looking for him."

Emma sucked in a deep breath. "Is he dead?" she asked.

"I don't want to make a judgment before I get there," Maggie said, which Emma knew was code for yes. "What's most important is that someone gets there as soon as possible."

Emma and Audrey nodded, and left Maggie to make the call. They walked silently back to Emma's room and sat on her bed, their knees pulled in tight to their chests.

"Do you think the others got the video?" Emma asked, quietly.

"I don't know," Audrey said. "No one's texted us. I feel like they would have by now."

"So it's just us?"

Audrey sighed. "We were together at the end of it last time. I guess we're together again."

Emma bit her lip, trying to focus on the feeling hard enough that it would keep her from crying. Chase was dead. Chase, who barely even knew her. Who never made it to their first date. If this killer was going to murder someone like that, what would happen to the people that she was actually close to? How far was this killer going to go?

Maggie looked in through the open door. "Emergency services are on their way," she said. "I'm going to follow them. I don't want you two to go to school, but I don't want you to be alone, either. I'm going to have a police detail sent over."

Emma shook her head. "We need to be with everyone," she said. "We need to go to school."

"It's not safe," Maggie said.

"Having a police detail has never made me safe," Emma said. "At least at school we'll be in a public place, surrounded by people who can help if something goes wrong."

Maggie sighed. "Then at the very least let me have the police escort you there."

Emma nodded, and Maggie left them to get ready. "Are you sure you want to go?" Audrey asked.

"Whoever this is," Emma said, "we can't let them get to us. We go to school, we act like we're okay, and we figure this out. That's the best we can do." Emma paused, seeing the concern on Audrey's face. "But that's just how I feel. If you're not up to it, you definitely don't have to go."

Audrey shook her head. "You're right," she said. "Besides, considering everything that has happened, it's probably best that we split up as little as possible." She looked down at her phone. "Shit, I have like twenty texts from Gina. She's got to be pissed."

"I'm sure she'll understand," Emma said. She wasn't, but Audrey didn't need anything else to be worried about.

* * *

Word traveled quickly in Lakewood. By the time that school started, everyone knew about Chase. Homeroom began with the typical moment of silence and offer of grief counseling if needed. They had given up on canceling classes, but they had also given up on trying to do anything productive.

"I can't believe it," Brooke said, once they were all alone. "Why Chase?"

"The killer's sending a message," Gustavo said.

Noah nodded in agreement. "Don't get close to Emma, or you'll get killed."

"But Chase wasn't even close to me," Emma said. She reached for Audrey's hand, but found that it was occupied with her phone. "We were going on one date."

"And no matter who the killer was, the person you were dating was always involved," Noah said. "It's part of the MO."

Emma bit her lip. First Will. Then everything with Keiran. Now Chase. And then, suddenly, a thought occurred to her. "But it's not just me," she said. "It's all of us. Anyone we're dating. We've all—" She stopped herself before she said it, but they all understood. Gustavo was the only one who hadn't, but he had come close with Brooke.

"We need a new murder board," Noah said. His voice was strong, as if he were trying to convince himself as much as the rest of them. "We'll set up a new board, we'll track everything, and we'll get to the bottom of this. Who wants to come over after school and work on it?"

Stavo and Brooke looked at each other. "We have an electrician coming to the house today to talk about changing some of the lighting," Brooke said. "And there's a cancellation fee."

"Audrey?" Noah asked.

Audrey looked up from her phone. "I have to go over to Gina's," she said. "But I'll try and swing by after."

Noah looked at Emma. "I'll do it," she said. "Let's figure this out before this killer has a chance to get anyone else."

* * *

 

"Maggie," Acosta said, motioning her over towards his car. Maggie followed him, snapping off her gloves. "Do you have everything you need?"

Maggie nodded. "He was dead about an hour before we got here," she said. "But it wasn't a quick death. The killer left him tied up there to bleed out."

Acosta shook his head. "Jesus." He looked over at Maggie. "What can we do? What the hell are we supposed to do to get ahead of this guy?"

Maggie took a deep breath. "We could bring in a profiler," she said. "Someone who will be able to compare these murders to the ones that were happening before. Maybe they'll have some insights."

"That's not what I mean," he said. He looked at Maggie. She knew that he had been out all night looking for Chase, but she also knew that the dark circles under his eyes weren't fresh. "No profiler is going to have better insight than us, Maggie. We're the ones who have been through this."

Maggie thought. "Whoever this killer is," she said, "they seem to be more like Piper than Keiran. The drive-in closed before Emma was born, but we went here all the time." She took a deep breath, knowing how bad this was going to sound. "They're focusing on what happened with Brandon."

"So you think—"

"I'm not saying it  _is_ him," Maggie said. "But he and I used to come here sometimes. It was dark. Private. He was comfortable here. And whoever this killer is, they seem to know that." She met Acosta's eyes, not realizing that she had looked away. "So I think we should check out the old pig farm. Just to be safe."

Acosta nodded. "I think that's a good idea."

 


	8. Back at the Ranch, Part 2

"Hey," Audrey said, smiling as Gina opened the door to her apartment. She could tell right away that it was going to take a lot more than a smile to set things right between them.

"Glad you were able to make it," Gina said. Her voice was harsh and sullen, and she closed the door so quickly that Audrey barely made it inside.

They made their way to Gina's room, through the refuse left in the living room by her various roommates. Audrey had always dreamed of a set-up like Gina's—a bunch of queer people living all together—but the more time she spent here, the more she was certain that she needed her own place once she moved out. She needed a space to herself. She wanted to be able to find every kitchen implement in the first place she looked, and know that there was no one else's hair stuck in the shower drain. And when she woke up in the middle of the night, she didn't want someone in the next room over coming in to check on her after hearing her scream. Eventually, someone would move in—someone who she had taken things slow with, who knew the situation and knew how not to make things worse—but until then, it would be just her. And maybe a dog.

As soon as Gina had closed her bedroom door, she let loose. "What happened last night?" Gina asked. "Micheal told me that you left work early."

"The theater was pretty much dead," Audrey said. "They didn't need me, and I'll make it up later. I've left early before, I don't see why it's such a big deal."

"Because you didn't tell me," Gina said.

"You weren't there," Audrey said. "You left early, too."

Gina folded her arms against her chest. "What were you doing?" she asked.

Audrey sighed. She knew that it wasn't going to go well if she told Gina the truth, but she also knew that there would be hell to pay if Gina caught her lying. "Emma needed me," she said, quietly.

"Emma?" Gina asked. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Someone was killed, Gina," Audrey said. She hated when they fought, but she couldn't bite her tongue. "Someone fucking died, and the killer called my friend. Are you seriously going to tell me that I shouldn't have gone over there?"

"Why you?" Gina asked. "Why not Brooke? Why not anyone else?"

"I don't know, maybe because a year ago we were both dragged to an orphanage where we almost  _died_?"

"Or maybe it's because she's in love with you."

"Jesus," Audrey said. She put her hands behind her head and turned around, choosing to look at the art on Gina's wall instead of Gina. There was a drawing of Audrey there; a line drawing that Gina had done one night when they were stoned out of their minds, back in the beginning when they didn't fight like this. It seemed like so long ago. It was before Gina had really gotten to know Emma, before she had convinced herself that Audrey was cheating on her. Before Gina hated Emma so much that Audrey basically had to choose between the two of them.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Audrey. A thought that she didn't want to entertain, but she couldn't help herself from asking. "Where were you last night, Gina?"

"Excuse me?" Gina asked.

"I was at Emma's all night," Audrey said, turning back around. "You know that. But you were supposed to be working the same shift as me. Where were you?"

"All night?" Gina asked. "You spent the night there?"

"Don't try and change the subject." Every second that Gina didn't answer, Audrey became more nervous. She had trusted the wrong people before. She had made that mistake. It had gotten Rachel killed, and it had put her friends in danger.

"I'm the manager," Gina said. "I can leave early if I want to."

"And you're also my girlfriend," Audrey said. "And if you can't tell me what you were doing... I can't be here. I don't think I can even look at you."

"And if you don't trust me, then I don't think you should be here, either."

Audrey took one last look back at the drawing, giving Gina a final chance to make things like they were back then, and left.

* * *

 "Can you hand me that picture of Kieran?" Noah asked. He was standing on his desk chair, trying to reach the top of the murder board. Emma passed it to him, trying not to look too hard. It would be fine once it was up there, a sign saying "dead" above his eyes and threads connecting him to all sorts of other evidence. But she didn't want to see him the way he had been. Or the way that she thought he had been.

Noah got off the chair and stepped back to look at everything they had. It wasn't much—bits and pieces of the old murder board that Noah had taken down but never thrown away, plus what had happened with Chase.

"It's likely that whoever killed Kieran is the same person who killed Chase," Noah said. "But three original killers? There's never that many."

"There's a first time for everything, isn't there?" Emma asked.

"But a third killer would just get in the way," Noah said. "Too much coordinating between them all. Too many messages to be intercepted. Unless..."

He scribbled a question mark onto a piece of paper, and tacked it up at the top of the board, adding strings to connect it to Kieran and Piper. Then, he removed the label that said  _mastermind_ above Piper and placed it with the question mark. "Maybe we were wrong about who was in charge all along," he said. "Maybe Piper and Kieran were both just doing someone else's dirty work."

"You think someone else was orchestrating it the whole time?" Emma asked.

"Not necessarily," Noah said. Emma could see the change in his eyes; the excitement of finally being onto something again. "But think about it: Piper knew a lot more about your mom than most people. Even with extensive research, it would make sense if she had some sort of source giving her information. And it provides a motive for Kieran's murder. He did all sorts of crazy shit that I'm sure wasn't in the plan. And, he could have given away the identity of the person who's actually behind all of this."

Emma took it all in. It made sense. Noah's theories always did.

She walked up to the picture of Chase. It was a school photo—the one that they had printed alongside his obituary. They had tried to find a picture on facebook, but his account had been deleted. This was the only version of Chase they could find, and honestly, it was the only version of Chase Emma had ever even known. She tried to remember what they had talked about that night at Brooke's party, but it was all a blur of lavender-flavored gin. Their teacher, probably. Maybe some of their other classes. Nothing that mattered.

"You know in movies, the first kill is always a minor character," Noah said. "Someone you don't care about; don't have any attachment to. I think that's what this killer was going for. But it's different when it's a real person. There are no minor characters."

Something about what Noah had said caught Emma off-guard, and she found herself crying on Noah's shoulder without really knowing how she got there. He put his arms around her, squeezing her in a well-meaning but awkward way, until her sobbing began to peter out.

"I was right when I said I should be done with dating," she finally said. "I should have been done after Kieran. Hell, I should never have dated Kieran. All it does is get people hurt."

Noah nodded, his face solemn. "Believe me, I get it."

Noah hadn't dated anyone since Zoe. As far as Emma knew, he hadn't even considered it. She knew he had talked to Audrey about it, but it wasn't something that he brought up very often. "Noah," Emma said, not knowing what else to say.

"It's okay," Noah said. "They fucked us all up, they just fucked us up in different ways. Everything that happened brought Brooke and Stavo together. It made Audrey feel like she  _should_ be with somebody. It's kind of nice to know that there's someone else going through the same thing, actually."

Emma nodded. Noah's phone buzzed on his desk, and they both held their breath while they checked who it was. "Just Audrey," he said, showing the screen to Emma. He read the text: _On my way over, be there soon._ "I don't know how much work is left to do on the board, but want to bounce theories back and forth with Audrey for awhile?"

Emma felt a sense of relief for the first time since the video. "Yeah," she said. "I think that would be nice."

* * *

"Are you ready to go?" Acosta asked, standing in the doorway to Maggie's office.

"Just about," she said, shutting down her computer. Her fingers were shaking, just slightly. She hadn't been to the farm in about a year, when she and Emma had gone to check it out, and before then it had been at least a decade. She hoped that there would be nothing there, no shred of evidence to further Acosta's theory. But at the same time, she couldn't hush the little part of her that hoped they would find something. Because if something of Brandon's was there, maybe he wasn't dead after all. Maybe he was alive and well and innocent, and maybe he could even help them figure out who was doing this.

She followed Acosta out of her office and down the hallway. She wished that they worked in a normal office, where people leave at five and if you stayed an extra ten minutes you could avoid anyone seeing you as you went off to do something they would all be suspicious of. She could feel their co-workers looking as they walked through the main office, wondering why the medical examiner was leaving with the sheriff when no one had heard reports of another body. Not knowing what else to do, she reached for Acosta's hand, grabbing it firmly and lacing their fingers together. He pulled away, at first, but the expression on her face made it clear that he shouldn't, so he left his hand until they got to his car.

"What was that about?" he asked as they got in.

"They were staring," Maggie said.

"So you decided to draw even more attention to us?"

"It's better they think that we're dating than try to figure out what we're actually doing," Maggie said.Acosta gave her a long look from the driver's seat, trying to decide

Acosta gave her a long look from the driver's seat, trying to decide if what she was saying actually made sense. "You're right," he said, eventually. "It might not be the cover I would have come up with, but at least it's a cover."

Maggie pulled out her phone to let Emma know that she might be home late. "You don't have a charger in the car, do you?" she asked. Her battery was unruly, and she hadn't realized that her phone was almost dead.

Acosta shook his head. "Sorry," he said. "I'll have my phone, though, in case there's an emergency."

Maggie nodded, sent Emma the text, and turned her phone off. Better to preserve the charge that was left and use it later.

"Which way?" Acosta asked, pulling out of the parking lot. Maggie pointed to the right, and they began down the familiar road to the edge of town.

 


	9. Back at the Ranch, Part 3

When Audrey got to Noah's, she came in without bothering to knock on the door.

"Food's on its way," Noah said. "Until then, any thoughts on the murder board?"

Audrey threw her backpack on the floor and sat backwards on Noah's desk chair. "Yeah I have something," she said without looking up at the board. She was furious, and she let that anger take over any concern she had that what she was about to say was jumping to conclusions. "I went over to Gina's and she was acting super weird. And she won't tell me where she was last night. She left early and I don't know why and I just... I don't think we should rule her out."

"Gina?" Emma asked. She tried not to feel whatever was creeping up in her chest, a strange combination of horror and guilt and the feeling that she had been right about Gina all along. "Are you sure?"

"Back up," Noah said. His focus was intense, but he was already up at the board, sorting through pictures. "What did she say, exactly?"

"It wasn't what she said," Audrey said. "It was what she didn't say. I mean, why wouldn't she just tell me where she was if she didn't have something to hide?"

"What were you talking about before that, then?"

Audrey swallowed, trying to figure out how much of their conversation it was appropriate to reveal. "She was mad at me for leaving work early. It was like a boss/employee thing that turned into a whole thing about our relationship. I told her where I was, and when I asked where she had been, she got weird and avoided the question."

Noah looked back at her. "That's it? Nothing else?"

Audrey sighed. "She's always been weird about Emma," she said, avoiding Emma's eyes. "I always thought it was because... Maybe it's because she's involved in all of this."

Since she had left Gina's apartment, the wheels in her head had been spinning. The way that Gina felt about Emma. How weird she was on the island over Halloween. It all fit together. She wasn't going to fall for a bunch of lies this time. And she wasn't going to be the one putting Emma in danger again.

"Do you really think that Gina could have killed Kieran?" Noah asked.

"I guess I hadn't considered that," Audrey said. The confidence that the anger had provided her was shrinking, and she suddenly realized how paranoid she sounded.

"Look," Emma said. Audrey turned her chair to face her. "I know what it's like to be in your position. When I found out about Kieran, it was like the entire life that I had built up for myself fell apart. And it's really, really scary to learn that you were trusting someone you shouldn't have been trusting." She reached for Audrey's hand, and Audrey let her take it, pulling the chair towards her as she did so. Even though they had patched things up, it was always hard for Audrey to hear Emma talk like this. She knew that Emma had once felt this way about her, and no amount of accepted apologies would make Audrey feel better about it. "But I also know that situations like this can make you question pretty much every person you interact with. And I wouldn't want to see your relationship ruined over a misunderstanding."

Audrey nodded. Emma was too good. If she had been dating someone who didn't like Audrey, Audrey probably would have taken any opportunity she could have to split them up. She knew that if Gina could just let go of the idea that Audrey and Emma were secretly in love, they would actually get along. But Gina wouldn't.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be careful around her," Emma said. "If you're getting a bad vibe, you should listen to it. But how many people have we been wrong about before?"

"You're right," Audrey said. "Of course, you're right. I can't believe I did that."

"It's not completely out of the question," Noah said. Neither of the girls had realized that he was still over at the board, looking at all of the information that he had pinned up. "I mean, there are still some unanswered questions about Halloween. Obviously, she wasn't behind all of that, but she could have been involved in some of it."

"Noah," Emma said. "I was just talking her out of this, don't talk her back into it."

"I'm just saying!" Noah said. "Audrey was right, we shouldn't rule her out." His phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. "Hello?" His face went dark as he listened to the voice on the other side, and he immediately put the phone on speaker.

"Sorry to cut your little get-together short," the familiar voice said. "But I think there's something going on that you might want to turn your attention to."

"What's going on?" Emma asked.

"Your mom and the sheriff thought they could do some investigating on their own," he said. "Don't they know by now that I don't like it when people try and make their own rules to my game?"

"Where are they going?" Audrey asked, already out of her chair and slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"Now, what would be the fun of telling you?"

"I don't know," Audrey said. "Maybe if you tell me now I won't cut your fucking head off Friday the Thirteenth style when we find you."

"My game. My rules. End of story."

The phone cut out. Emma was already calling her mom, but the phone went straight to voicemail. She tried Acosta's phone too, with no success. "It doesn't matter," she said, shaking her head. "I think I know where they're going."

* * *

 When they pulled up to the farm, Maggie's breath caught in her throat. The house was a shambles, the kind of place they normally wouldn't enter without getting it checked out first. She knew that Troy hadn't kept the house up since he moved away, but she didn't realize how much of a wreck it had become.

The last time that she and Acosta had driven here together, it hadn't been like this at all. It was still idyllic back then—lush and green, the kind of place that Brandon could recover away from everyone else. If he was here now, it was the kind of place that people had always talked about him living. The kind of place that they had always wanted him to be in. God, she hoped he wasn't here.

They were all business as they got out of the car, carefully putting on gloves and pulling out their flashlights. "You take the first floor, I'll take the second?" Acosta asked.

"Do you really think we should be splitting up?" Maggie asked.

Acosta shook his head. "Of course not," he said. "But I don't think that we have time to get through the whole house and the grounds if we don't."

Maggie sighed. He was right. The farm was a couple of acres at least, and just because they didn't find any evidence in the house didn't mean that no one was hiding out there somewhere.

"I'll stay within ear shot," Acosta said. "If you see anything suspicious, just call out and I'll be right there."

Maggie nodded. Acosta tried the door, and although it resisted to his hand, it wasn't locked. A first glance around the entryway didn't show any signs of life, except for a stench that suggested some wild animals had made a home here. Acosta gave Maggie's shoulder a squeeze before heading up the stairs. Maggie walked forward, through the living room and dining room and into the kitchen at the back of the house. She figured that if someone had been hiding out here, this was one of the most likely places to find something.

The house had no power, but she checked the fridge anyway. Nothing there. The cabinets revealed nothing except thick layers of dust and a few canned goods from over a decade ago. The sound of floorboards creaking above her made her jump, but then she remembered that it was Acosta. The sink was empty, and there were no dishes in any of the drawers. She felt confident that no one had been in the kitchen since Kieran had been using the house. That didn't mean that the rest of the house hadn't been visited, but at least that was something. Maybe this could put the Brandon theory to rest, and they could try and find some other leads.

Just as she was leaving the kitchen, Maggie noticed something on the bulletin board that was on the wall next to the door. Mixed in with old flyers about local events and notes with phone numbers was a photograph that looked newer than everything else. She wasn't sure, but it looked like the lake. Suddenly she realized that it couldn't be anywhere else, because she could see herself tied up at the end of the pier, with Emma next to her and Piper in the foreground with her back turned. She took the photograph down to get a closer look, her hands shaking, and discovered that underneath was another photo. This one was older, but it was the same shot of the lake, and she was still in it. Only this time, she was standing unrestrained, still wearing that dress that she had worn to the Halloween dance earlier that night.

It must have been stolen from a police file. Maybe it was something Kieran had planned on using but had never gotten around to; something that the police had missed the last time they went over the house. He was certainly the one who had taken the more recent photo. It made sense. Still, something felt wrong. "Acosta?" she called. Her voice echoed through the empty rooms. She walked back towards the entry. "I found something strange down here, I think you should take a look at it." She waited, but heard nothing. "Acosta?"

There was no response.

* * *

When Audrey pulled her car up next to Acosta's, Emma felt a momentary rush of relief as she realized that she had been right about where they were. She had kept trying to call her mother to no avail. She had tried Brooke and Stavo, too, but they must have still been in their meeting. She was out of the car and on her way towards the house before Audrey had even pulled to a complete stop.

"Em, wait," Audrey called. She rummaged around in the seat behind her, and pulled out a tire iron. "We're right behind you," she said, handing it to Emma.

Emma nodded, and ran into the house. The door was closed, but not latched. With any luck, they hadn't been there long. "Mom?" she called, as soon as she was in. "Mom, are you here?"

"Emma," Maggie said, rushing down the stairs. "What are you doing here?"

"He called me," Emma said. "The killer called me, he said you two were investigating and that you were going to get hurt because you weren't playing by his rules."

Maggie's eyes got wide. "I can't find Acosta," she said. "He went to look upstairs. I just went up to find him because he wasn't answering me."

Without another word they were bolting up the stairs, with Noah and Audrey at their heels. Audrey pushed ahead, holding a gun that was registered to her father and checking every room before they went in and tore it apart. They had exhausted every possibility when Maggie remembered Acosta telling her about the Murphy bed that led to a small room. "Over here," she said, pointing. She ripped down the bed, and they climbed single file through the small space.

He was tied to a post by his arms and feet, a strip of duct tape over his mouth and a glassy look in his eyes. Maggie rushed over to help him. In the dim light of the room, she could see a message scrawled across the tape:  _Play by my rules, or you better watch your back._

"They must have surprised him," Maggie said. "And covered his mouth so I couldn't hear him scream." She looked at Noah. "Call an ambulance," she said. He nodded, and ran to the corner of the room to make the call.

Audrey was already at work untying his hands, and Emma undid the rope around his feet. "It couldn't have been too long," Maggie said, trying to pull at the edges of the tape without hurting him. "He might have worn himself out trying to scream, or he might not be getting enough oxygen..."

The girls finished with the knots, and before they could do anything Acosta fell forward into Maggie's arms. Maggie tried to grab him around the shoulders, and pulled away a hand dripping with blood. She looked up at the post. Coming straight out of the wood, right at shoulder blade height, was a blade. "Watch your back," Maggie said quietly. When they had taken him down, they had pulled out the object that was keeping him from bleeding out.

Maggie immediately put him down on the floor, as carefully as she could, and applied pressure to the wound, hoping that having gravity on their side would be enough.

"Ambulance is on its way," Noah said, rushing over. "What can I do?"

"Help me try and stop the bleeding," Maggie said. Audrey took off her tank top and ripped it open, handing it to Maggie to use as a bandage. It wasn't long before the blood began to seep through. At the sound of sirens in the distance, Noah ran downstairs to direct the EMTs.

Audrey went to the window and looked out. "There's nothing out there," Audrey said. "I was hoping he would just be there waiting. He must have gone out the back door, right?"

"There is no back door," Maggie said. "Just a front door and a side door."

Audrey craned her neck. "I can see a back door our there," she said. "It's small, maybe it leads out from the basement?"

"How would he have gotten to the basement from up here?"

Audrey shrugged, walking around the room and looking for any doors aside from the one that they came in. There was nothing, but as she made her way to the edge of the room she noticed that some of the floor boards were loose underneath her. She pulled them up, and motioned for Emma to join her. Underneath was a ladder built into the wall, clearly handmade out of scrap wood.

 

"It's another secret passage," Emma said, looking back at her mother. "This must be how the killer got out without you noticing."

Maggie swallowed. There was only one person who would need a secret passage in the old farm house. And you didn't build a secret passage for someone unless they had survived long enough to use it.

 


	10. Lost Time, Part 1

Everyone held their breath as Maggie walked into the waiting room. "He's stable," she said, quickly. She knew better than to make people wait for information like this. "They think he's probably going to lose some of the mobility in his arm, but other than that, he's going to be alright." She put a hand on Stavo's shoulder. "You can go in and see him now. He's on a lot of pain medication so I'm not sure he'll be able to talk, but I know he would be glad to see you."

Stavo gave Brooke's hand a squeeze before getting up. "Thank you, Ms. Duvall," he said. He walked through the double doors, and Maggie took his seat. It had been a few hours, and it was after midnight by now. They were all exhausted, but nobody knew what to do other than sit there.

"Did you find anything while you were there?" Brooke finally asked. Her voice was distant.

"There was a secret passage," Audrey said. "We didn't see where it went, though."

"I think we should go back and check it out," Noah said. "That passageway probably goes to the basement, and we should see what's down there."

"Nobody's going back there," Maggie said. "It's not safe. Whoever this killer is, he knows what we're doing and what our plans are. Until we figure out where this person is getting this information, we're not doing anything off the record."

Emma and Audrey exchanged a silent glance. They had dealt with killers enough to know that there was no way that was going to work.

"I did find something else, though." Maggie pulled the two photographs out of the inside pocket of her jacket. They were a bit crumpled, but aside from that, they were just as she had found them.

"That's us," Emma said, taking the pictures. She flipped to the one on the bottom. "And that's... is that you?"

Maggie nodded. "I found them both in the kitchen. I don't know if they were put in there recently or if they had been there for awhile."

"Can I take these?" Noah asked.

"They should be entered into police custody," Maggie said. "It's bad enough that I wasn't following procedure before."

"Can I copy them?"

Maggie sighed. "I guess. Are you all ready to go home?"

"I'm going to stay and wait for Stavo," Brooke said. "I'll see you all tomorrow?"

They nodded. "I'll come back in a few hours," Maggie said to Brooke. "You try and get some sleep, okay?"

Brooke nodded, but they all knew that none of them slept anymore.

* * *

Emma bit her lip as her mother pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. They had both been quiet since dropping off Audrey and Noah. Now, sitting in the car, Emma waited for her mother to say what she had been thinking about the whole ride home.

Maggie sighed. "You shouldn't have come to the farm," she finally said.

"If I didn't come, Acosta might have died," Emma said. " _You_ might have died."

"And  _you_ might have died as well," Maggie said. Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. "I'm your mother, Emma. And if someone is trying to hurt you, it's my job to protect you. But if someone is trying to hurt me, it's not your job to protect me."

"This isn't a normal situation, Mom," Emma said. "We can't just accept societal rules, we can't... I feel like we just keep having this argument over and over. You tell me not to do something, I have no option but to do it, and then we both survive but you tell me not to do it again. I don't know what else to do, Mom."

They stared ahead, both afraid that their voices would betray them if they spoke. It was Maggie who eventually broke the silence. "I'm sorry, Em," she said, her voice shaking. "I don't know who is doing this, or why, but it clearly has something to do with me, and I..."

"It's not your fault, Mom," Emma said, reaching for her mother's hand. "But we can't keep going in circles. We need to play this killer's game. But we need to play it better than him."

"You're right," Maggie said, shaking her head. "Of course, you're right."

Emma gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm going to go in," she said.

"I'll be right behind you," Maggie said. Emma got out of the car and closed the door quietly behind her. After a moment she grabbed her purse, and dug around for the number that Acosta had given her. She waited as the phone rang on the other end: once, twice, three times. Then, to her surprise, he picked up.

"Hello?" he said.

It was nice to hear a familiar voice.

"Troy," she said. "It's Maggie. Maggie Duvall. How are you doing?"

* * *

Stavo pulled up to Brooke's house, deciding it would be better to stop in front rather than pull into the driveway.

"Thanks for driving me home," Brooke said. It was almost eight in the morning, and they had spent a solid twelve hours in the hospital. "I could have gotten an Uber, you know. So you could have stayed."

"I know," Stavo said. "But he's asleep, anyway. And I wanted to drive you."

"Are you going to stay at the hospital again tonight?" Brooke asked. He nodded. She had been avoiding the question, knowing what the answer would be. "I could come back with you tonight."

"You don't have to do that," Stavo said.

"I don't mind," Brooke said. She turned in her seat so she could face him better, one leg tucked under the other. "Really."

He looked out the window, avoiding her eyes. "I don't think I can move in, Brooke," he said. "When my dad gets out of the hospital... I think I better stay home and help him with things."

Brooke took in a breath and held it, refusing to let him see how she felt about it. It was stupid to be upset. She probably knew that better than anyone.

"If you want to come and stay with us," Stavo said, "you would be more than welcome."

"What, so we can have sex knowing that your dad is on the other side of the bedroom wall?" Brooke asked. "That was, like, the whole reason I got my own place."

"Please don't do that, Brooke," he said, finally turning to look at her. Now it was her turn to look away.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, folding her arms across her chest.

He kissed her, gently, on the forehead. "I know this place is important to you," he said. "But consider it, okay?" Brooke nodded, not wanting to make a verbal commitment. "I'll call you in a little while."

He kissed her again, and she got out of the car. She watched him drive away until he turned the corner out of her sight. Then she looked back at her house—her empty, tiny house that was so far from impenetrable—and started to cry, wondering how on Earth she was supposed to sleep there alone tonight.

 


	11. Lost Time, Part 2

Maggie watched the door of the coffee shop, waiting for Troy to come in. She hoped that she would be able to recognize him. It had been well over a decade since she had seen him, and every time a man came through the door she wondered if it could be him.

But when he finally came in, she realized that she could never have missed him. He was older, of course. A bit thinner. Unshaved. Rougher around the edges than he had been, although if that was his usual state or just a result of the current events was hard to tell. But despite all of that, there was an air about him that was exactly the same. Comfortable, Maggie realized. That was something she hadn't felt in a long time. "Troy," she said, waving him over.

When he saw her, he smiled. "It's good to see a familiar face," he said, as he took a seat down across from her.

"I'm sure it is," she said. "How are you holding up?"

Troy sighed, and leaned back in the chair. "Okay, I guess," he said. "Given the circumstances, at least."

"I understand," Maggie said. She held on tightly to her coffee cup, letting the warmth transfer to her hands.

"I know you've been through Hell these past couple years," Troy said. "I'm really sorry I never reached out, Maggie. I just... I just couldn't be reminded of all of that."

"I understand that, too," Maggie said. "And I'm so sorry that your mother got dragged into this."

"You think it's related, then?" Troy asked. "When I talked to Miguel he said that it might have been related, but it could have just been a break-in."

"It's possible," Maggie said. "But in light of recent events, it's much more likely that it's connected."

"And I'm guessing that those events are official police knowledge that you can't share with me?"

Maggie nodded.

"That makes sense," Troy said. "Thank you for telling me what you can, Maggie. I appreciate it."

"Of course," Maggie said."

"How is Miguel?" Troy asked.

"Miguel was stabbed," she said. Troy's eyes got distant. She had seen that look before. He had always dealt with things by going numb. "He's going to survive. We were actually... we were investigating at your old house when it happened."

"My house?" Troy asked. "Why?"

"Kieran was hiding out there last year," Maggie said. "We had reason to believe that if there was another killer, they might have been using the space as well."

"And did you find anything?" Troy asked.

Maggie considered telling him about the photos, but the last thing that Troy needed was more on his mind. "Troy I hate to bring this up, but there's something that I need to ask you."

"Of course," Troy said.

Maggie took a deep breath. "When Miguel and I... when we dropped Bran off at your house that night... is there any way..."

Troy sighed. "Maggie," he said. "I can't."

"I know," Maggie said. "But if you lied, if you hid him, I understand, Troy."

He looked around the crowded coffee shop. "Not here," he said. He took off his baseball cap, rolling the brim back and forth in his fingers. "I have some things that I think I should tell you. But I think it's something we should talk about in private."

"Of course," Maggie said. She took a final sip of her coffee, trying not to let her mind jump to any conclusions. "Let's go to my house."

* * *

Noah waited on the doorstep, almost deciding to give up and go home before Stavo opened the door.

"Hey," Stavo said. "Sorry. Thanks for changing plans and coming over here. I just... I didn't want to leave him."

"I get it," Noah said. Stavo looked like he hadn't slept since the attack, which didn't surprise Noah at all. "No problem at all."

"Come in," Stavo said. "We should probably go work in the basement. My dad's asleep and I don't want to wake him up."

"Oh, cool, the basement," Noah said. "The best place to be when there's a masked killer after you."

Stavo looked at him. "Not right now, Foster."

"Point taken," Noah said. He followed Stavo downstairs into a finished basement, significantly less creepy than Noah had been afraid of. "Look, we don't even have to be doing this. If we ask for an extension on the deadline I'm sure they'll give it to us."

"I don't want to talk about the book," Stavo said. He sat down on an old futon, and looked Noah straight in the eyes. "If anyone can figure out who this killer is, Foster, it's you. I want to know who tried to kill my dad."

Noah sighed, and took a seat in a chair across from Stavo. "I'm trying to figure it out. But the pattern doesn't make sense. The rules are less clear. I can see why the killer chose all of his victims individually, but not how they fit together."

"I don't buy that," Stavo said. "You always have a theory."

Noah leaned back. "I do," he said. "But it's pretty rough."

"I don't care," Stavo said. "I want to know anything you've got."

"Alright," Noah said. "According to horror movie logic, the trilogy is usually about going back to the beginning. Kieran's motives had nothing to do with Maggie's past, but Piper's did. And the first murder—aside from Kieran—was Cassie James."

"So, what is it?" Stavo asked. "Brandon's ghost?"

"They never found his body," Noah said. "I'm not saying it is him, but it's not impossible. And if it's not him, it's definitely connected."

Stavo thought. "My dad must have known him," he said. "He and Maggie were friends, I think they went to the bowling alley together. And he was there that night, at the Halloween party."

"Did Brandon have any issues with him?" Noah asked.

Stavo shrugged. "It's not really something he talks about."

Noah nodded. The floor creaked above them, and for a moment Noah was certain that someone was coming to kill him.

"That's my dad trying to do something on his own," Stavo said, standing up. "I'm going to go check on him. I'll be back in a minute."

"Are you sure?" Noah asked. "I can just head out."

Stavo shook his head. "I want to figure this out," he said, his voice catching. "I don't want to let this bastard get away with this."

* * *

"Thanks again for letting me crash here," Brooke said. "I just really wasn't up to being alone tonight."

"Thank  _you_ ," Emma said. "You brought me wine. You can crash anytime you want." She poured herself another glass, getting down to the bottom of the bottle. "Besides, Audrey was already going to be here. It's kind of nice to have a little party. It's almost like we're normal teenagers."

"Why are you here, Audrey?" Brooke asked, turning over to look at her. "No offense or anything, but this seems like a prime opportunity to stay with Gina."

"Are you kidding?" Audrey asked. "You think my overprotective father would go all the way to Boston without triple checking to make sure that I'm not spending the night at my girlfriend's house? And with everything going on right now, he almost didn't even go." She leaned back on her elbows. "And also Gina and I aren't exactly on great terms right now."

"Trouble in Horrorland?" Brooke asked, wiggling her eyebrows. "What happened?"

Audrey wondered how much she should say. Emma was right, it was nice pretending that things were normal for a night. She didn't want to ruin that. "We're just having some trust issues," she settled on. Without looking over, Emma gave her hand a squeeze.

Brooke's eyes got wide. "Did she cheat on you?" she asked. Audrey shook her head. "What happened, then? Come on, you already know all of my drama, and Emma doesn't have any. We need to talk about  _someone's_ relationship shit."

Audrey brushed a hand on the back of her head. "Things have just been really weird between us lately," Audrey said. "For awhile, actually. Since Halloween, I guess." The wine was getting to her. The words were spilling out of her mouth, and all she could do was be thankful that they weren't about Gina being the killer. "She told me that night that she believes that Emma and I are just friends, but I don't think she really does. And then she got _so_ mad at me for coming over here the other night, and I just... I can't even be there for my friend without her freaking out about it. And that's bullshit. And I'm sick of it."

"I didn't realize it was that serious," Brooke said.

"Neither did I," Emma said quietly. All of a sudden, every suspicion that she had had about Gina was confirmed. She hadn't been reading too far into the situation: Gina really did hate her.

"I'm sorry, Em," Audrey said, turning to her. "And I want you to know, none of this is on you. This is all her." That wasn't entirely true. Audrey was drunk enough to admit that some of this was on herself as well, but not drunk enough to say it out loud. There was nothing wrong with the things that Gina had problems with. But at the end of the day, there was no question as to who Audrey would rather spend time with between the two of them. And there were time—few and far between, but still—that old feelings would creep up again. When Emma would do her hair-twirly thing, or when she would rest her head on Audrey's shoulder. But all of that was residual. It was always like that, when you had had feelings for someone before. It was a memory of the feeling, rather than the feeling itself.

Damn this wine. Audrey never had these thoughts when she was sober.

"You know, I told her that if she made me chose between the two of you, it was going to be you," Audrey said. "Maybe it's time to make that choice."

"Audrey," Emma said. "You don't have to—"

"I think I might want to," Audrey said. "You're my friend, Em. And you've been my friend since we were little kids. I'd always choose you."

"I'm going to go to Wellesley," Emma said. She hadn't really decided on it until she said it, but as soon as she did, she felt better about it than any decision she had made in a long time.

She could get out of here. She could go to a good school. Get a degree and a job and a real life. She could be close to Noah and Brooke and Stavo. And she could be with Audrey. That was the life that she wanted. She couldn't believe that she had ever considered anything else.

"Really?" Audrey asked. If Emma had ever had any doubts, Audrey's smile would have erased them. "Oh my God, Emma, that's fantastic! When did you decide?"

"I've been thinking about it a lot," Emma said. "It just feels right." She was crying, just a little. She chalked it up to the wine. Audrey leaned across the bed to hug her, pulling Emma so hard that they nearly toppled over. Emma's stomach got all fluttery. She chalked that up to the wine, too.

"We're going to have so much fun," Audrey said.

"We are," Emma said, actually believing it.

"A toast," Brooke said, pouring out the last drops of wine. "To getting out of here and living our best lives."

"I'll drink to that," Emma said. It was the happiest she had been in ages.

 


	12. Lost Time, Part 3

Maggie opened the door and let Troy in. "Emma and her friends are upstairs," she said. "They've all got a lot going on right now. I think it's best that we don't bother them."

"Of course," Troy said, nodding. "She probably doesn't even remember me, does she? It's been, god, fifteen years, maybe?"

"That sounds about right," Maggie said. She could hear the girls upstairs, laughing. The last thing she wanted to do was take that away from them. She motioned for Troy to take a seat on the couch. "Can I get you anything? Tea? Wine?"

"I'm good," Troy said. "I think we should just get this out of the way."

"He survived, didn't he?" Maggie asked. It wasn't how she had planned on this conversation going, but she needed to say it. Troy looked away. "I saw the secret passage in your house. Were you hiding him there?"

"When Brandon showed up on my doorstep that morning, I didn't know what to do," Troy said. "He was in bad shape, Maggie. I really thought he was going to die. I took him in, I made him comfortable, but I didn't think he was going to make it."

"But then he started to get better," Troy continued. "His wound healed okay. It hurt him, I think, but we kept it clean and it didn't get infected or anything. After a while, he could get up, and then awhile after that he started to walk again."

Maggie stared at Troy. He still wouldn't look her in the eyes. She didn't blame him. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked. She had thought she was angry, but when her voice came out, the was no rage behind it. Just sadness.

"Because he was different after that, Maggie," he said. "The nice, caring kid that you and I knew was gone. He was angry all the time. He would stay in his room for days and if I tried to talk to him he would just yell at me. I probably should have told you. But I thought that seeing him like that would hurt you even more than losing him would."

Maggie bit her lip, trying to find the right words. "How long?" she eventually asked. "Was he still there all of those times that I came over with Emma?"

"It was about a year and a half," Troy said. "At first it worked out pretty well. People didn't really come by the farm often, and when they did, he could use that secret passage to get around without them noticing. And he did that, at first. But things got worse and worse between us. He got angrier. One day I came home and he was gone. I thought he would come back, but... he didn't."

Finally, he looked at Maggie. He was teary-eyed, and he played with the hem of his shirt. "I tried to find him. I looked everywhere. But I couldn't exactly ask for help."

"You could have asked me," Maggie said.

Troy nodded. "I was never as honest with you as I should have been, Maggie. There's a lot of things I would change if I could."

"Do you think he did it, Troy?" Maggie asked. "When we were in high school?" 

"I never believed it was him," Troy said. "But maybe I was wrong. I thought that what happened with the cops messed him up, but maybe it was what he did to those people. And if it  _was_ him, if he was capable of it then... maybe he's capable of it now."

"You know him better than anyone," Maggie said. "I've been defending him, but if you think he could be the one... I trust you, Troy."

"I don't want to believe it either," Troy said. "But I don't think it's impossible. But I'm here now, and I'll do anything I can to help you find him. I just want you and Emma to be safe."

Maggie took in the man sitting in front of her. He had always seemed so much older than she and Brandon were. He had always been an adult. Even once she had had Emma, he still felt like he had so much more life experience. But now, for the first time, she felt like they were in the same place. She wasn't sure if the events of the last few years had made her older, or if he seemed younger when he was so fragile. Maybe it was just that the age difference wasn't so extreme anymore.

Without thinking, she kissed him. It wasn't a particularly special kiss—no sparks, no passion—but it felt good. And when the kiss was over, there was nothing strange or uncomfortable between them. With all of this chaos surrounding her past, it was nice to have a part of it with her again that wasn't all that bad.

* * *

 By the time that Emma and Audrey woke up the next morning, Brooke was already gone. Emma panicked for a moment before Audrey pulled a note off of the bedside table.

 _Went to go check on Stavo and his dad before school. See you later, Brooke_.

"It's definitely her handwriting," Audrey said. "We're good."

"Sorry for freaking out," Emma said. "That was stupid."

"Better safe than sorry," Audrey said. She looked at Emma, who still looked shaken. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Emma said. "I think I just need a minute to calm down again." When she had first woken up and couldn't figure out where Brooke was, all she could think about was how many of their friends had just disappeared. The note was proof that this wasn't like that, but it was going to take awhile for the fear to work its way out of her system.

"I'll go make some coffee," Audrey said. "You just stay here and relax, okay? I'll bring it up to you."

"You don't have to do that," Emma said, starting to get out of bed.

"I don't mind, really," Audrey said, throwing a flannel over her tank top. "I know where everything is, it'll only take a few minutes."

Before Emma could argue any further, Audrey was already on her way downstairs. Emma leaned back in bed and smiled. It was pretty nice to have someone around who was willing to make you coffee. She could see them a year or two from now, sharing an apartment in Boston and trading off who made coffee in the morning.

But before Emma could think about the future any more, Audrey was back, slamming the door closed behind her.

"There's a man making breakfast in your kitchen," Audrey said

"What?" Emma asked, getting out of bed.

"Your mom was there, too" Audrey said. "I think your mom, like, had someone over last night."

"Oh my God," Emma said, blushing. "Are you telling me that Maggie Duval had a one night stand while you me and Brooke were all here?"

"That's crazy, right?" Audrey said. "That makes no sense. That doesn't sound like your mother."

"Not at all," Emma said. "I mean she had Sheriff Hudson over a couple of times, but they were pretty serious at that point. She hasn't said that she was seeing anyone. Did you know who it was?"

"I didn't stay down there long enough to find out."

Emma leaned back, laughing. "So, I take it you didn't get around to making the coffee then."

"I love you a lot," Audrey said. "But not enough to have an awkward encounter with your mother and her man-friend."

"That feels reasonable," Emma said. She looked at her clock. "It's early enough that we can probably just wait it out. I'll drill my mom after whoever it is is gone."

Audrey took a seat in the bed next to Emma, their bare knees bumping together as Audrey got back under the covers.

"Mind if I change the subject entirely so we stop thinking about Maggie's overnight guest?" Audrey asked.

"Please," Emma said.

"Were you serious about going to Wellesley?" Audrey asked. "If you don't want to stick with a commitment you made drunk I don't blame you."

Emma waited a moment for her mind to change, but it didn't. "I was serious," she said.

"It's okay if you weren't," Audrey said. "I don't want to peer pressure you into a college decision."

"I'll prove it," Emma said. She pulled her acceptance packet off of the desk and started filling out everything she needed to send back to them.

"Okay, okay, I believe it," Audrey said. "You don't need to rush through it for my sake."

"Good," Emma said, putting the packet back down. "I really don't want to do this without coffee."

Audrey smiled. "I'm really excited you're going to be so close, Em."

"Me too," Emma said. "It's like... I keep waiting for another call, you know? Or a text, or some other horrible news. But it's nice to have something to look forward to."

"Yeah," Audrey said, taking Emma's hand. "It is."

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay to go alone?" Maggie asked, as Troy finished up his eggs. "I'm sure they'll understand if I'm a bit late to work."

"You've already done more than enough for me, Maggie," Troy said. "I crashed on your couch and now I'm eating your food. I really couldn't ask more of you than that."

"I really don't mind," Maggie said. "It's a hard thing to do alone."

"I know," Troy said. "But I think it's something that I have to do alone. Maybe in a few days we can get together to spread the ashes."

"I would like that," Maggie said. She understood why Troy had decided against a memorial service—Cassie hadn't exactly stayed close with anyone in Lakewood—but the thought of him picking up his mother's ashes alone and leaving it like that seemed unbearable. At least if they spread them together they could have some sort of ceremony.

"I really better get going," Troy said, clearing his plate. "I want to get there as soon as they open. I don't really want to hang around the crematorium for too long."

"Of course," Maggie said, helping him clean up. "Call me later?"

"I will," Troy said. He looked at Maggie, and for a second she thought he was going to kiss her again, but he went for a hug instead. He was warm, and his arms were strong. "Thanks again, Maggie."

"You're welcome," Maggie said. "It was good to see you." She walked him to the door and watched as he got into his car. The second that she closed the door Emma and Audrey walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Morning, Mom," Emma said. "Oh, did you already eat?"

"Yeah," Maggie said. "I wanted to go to work early. There's coffee in the pot if you want some."

"Thanks," Audrey said, standing on her tiptoes to get a mug out of the cabinet.

"That's weird," Emma said, walking over to the sink. "There are two plates in here. And two sets of silverware, too. But I didn't have breakfast. And Audrey didn't, either. Did Brooke make breakfast before she left?"

Maggie sighed. "You heard him, didn't you?"

"I might have accidentally seen him," Audrey said. "Sorry."

"Mom, who was that?"

"That was Troy James," Maggie said. "He's in town to pick up his mother's ashes. He came over last night to talk to me about Brandon and it got late so I told him he could sleep on the couch."

"Oh," Emma said. "That's... not what I expected." It was strange to think of Brandon's brother in her house. He was such a distant figure, it was easy to forget that he and her mother had been friends. And it was strange to think, too, that she had known him once.

"I would have told you," Maggie said. "But it seemed like the three of you were having a nice time and I didn't want to disrupt it."

"Well, thank you for telling me now."

"Did you have a nice time?" Maggie asked.

"We did," Emma said. She went to pour herself a cup of coffee, but Audrey had already done it.

"Emma has some big news," Audrey said.

"You do?" Maggie asked.

Emma smiled. "I decided to go to Wellesley."

"Oh, Emma," Maggie said, hugging her. "That's wonderful, sweetheart. I'm so proud of you. We should do something to celebrate."

"Mom, we don't have to—"

Maggie's phone started ringing. "That's probably work," she said, picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, Daisy."

Maggie's breath caught in her throat. "What do you want?" she asked. Emma and Audrey looked at her, already knowing who it was. Maggie put the phone on speaker.

"I wanted to know what you were doing with Troy James," the voice said. "You already slept with one brother, did you need a matched set?"

"How do you know that Troy was here?" Maggie asked.

"I've been watching," he said. "I watched him leave, just a few minutes ago." Audrey walked over to the window and pulled open a curtain, looking for cars. There were a few parked on the street, but she couldn't tell if there was anyone inside them. "And I can see someone looking out the window now."

"Shit," Audrey said, pulling the curtains closed.

"We're calling the cops," Maggie said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "We're calling the cops and if you don't get the Hell away from my house they're going to find you."

"Oh Daisy," he said. "That's your solution to everything, isn't it? Just call the cops. That was your solution to Brandon, and look how well that worked out."

"Brandon, if this is you," Maggie said. "Please, Bran, just—"

"You know I don't like cops, Daisy," he said. "I wouldn't call them if I were you. Not unless you want something to happen to him."

Maggie went pale. "Do you have Troy?"

"Oh, no," the killer said. "Not yet, at least."

"Oh thank God," Maggie said, more to herself than to the killer.

The killer laughed. "I wouldn't get so cocky. Just because I don't have him doesn't mean I don't have someone."

"Who do you have?" Emma asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Tell us who you have," Audrey said, forcefully.

"Now that wouldn't be very fun," he said. "You'll have to do some work for yourself. Why don't you come and find us? I left a little clue for you. Who knows, if you're smart maybe you'll figure it out in time to see him alive."

The phone cut out. Audrey texted Noah while Emma ran out the the front porch. "There's nothing there," she said as she came back in. "I can't find anything."

Maggie looked out front. The flag was up on the mailbox. She walked down to the street and checked inside. She removed a padded envelope and tore it open, pulling out a thin book.

Noah and Stavo's book.


	13. Anyone's Game, Part 1

"He has them," Emma said, pulling the book out of Maggie's hands.

"He said  _him_ ," Audrey said. "That means he has one of them."

"Well how are we supposed to know which one he has?" Emma said.

"I don't know," Audrey said. "But we need to figure it out soon, or else they're going to die."

"There must be a bigger clue inside the book somewhere," Maggie said.

Emma flipped through the pages. "Look," Audrey said. "There's a bookmark."

She opened the book to a page revealing a picture of Piper at Wren Lake. "Whoever it is, that's where he is."

"Wait," Emma said. She flipped the book to another marked page, this one showing the scene where they got Keiran at the orphanage. "What about this?"

"He's making you choose," Maggie said. "You know that he has one of your friends, but you don't know which one and you don't know where. It's a game of chance."

"But it doesn't have to be," Emma said. "I'll go to the pier, and Audrey will go to the orphanage."

Maggie shook her head. "If you're going after him, you need to stick together."

"But we can't—"

"I'll go to the lake," Maggie said. "You go to the orphanage."

"Mom," Emma said. It wasn't like her to entertain the idea of the two of them going off on their own.

"I know," Maggie said. "But I also know that you're going to do this regardless of what I say. And if you're going to do it, then I would rather you don't go out there alone."

"Then let's go," Audrey said, already on the way to her car. She was still trying to call Noah.

"Are you sure?" Emma asked her mother.

Maggie shook her head. "Of course not," she said. "But it's life or death. I'll call the cops once I'm on the road. That way they won't tip him off, but they'll be there when we need them."

"Okay," Emma said, backing towards Audrey's car. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too," Maggie said. It was the wrong decision. She knew that. But it was also the only decision she could make. "Be safe."

* * *

Maggie pulled up to the lake, trying one more time to call Acosta. It went to voicemail. Again.

She stopped the car and ran down to the pier, her grip tight on the kitchen knife in her hand. "Stavo?" she called. "Noah?" There was no response. It was probably stupid to call out like that, but there was nowhere to hide here, anyway. If the killer was here, he knew that she was here.

The pier itself was empty. Maggie looked across the beach. She didn't see anything obvious, which was worse than if she had. If the killer had put Noah or Stavo in the water—tied them to a post, or something like that—there was almost no hope. But she couldn't think that way. She laid down on the end of the pier with the top half of her body hanging over the edge, tilting her head down so that she could look underneath.

No one was tied up there. Of course they weren't. It was a small lake, it wasn't like the tide was going to come in and drown someone. She straightened up and tried to think.

There was a dock out in the distance. She vaguely remembered a story about Noah getting left out there at a party. But it was a clear day, and if someone was there, she would be able to see them.

There was no one here. If they had been forced to make a choice between the two locations, this would have been the wrong one. After finding the pictures at the farm, she had been sure that this would be it. But that was probably what the killer wanted her to think. If she had thought there was a real chance he had someone at the orphanage, she never would have let Audrey and Emma go there.

Just as she was about to leave, her phone rang. She was unsurprised when she saw that it was an unknown number.

"He's not here, is he?" Maggie asked when she picked up.

"I'm sorry," the killer said. "I don't know who you're talking about."

"You know damn well who I'm talking about," Maggie said through clenched teeth. "Noah or Stavo. Whichever one it is, he's at the orphanage."

"That's a bold statement," the killer said. "You're starting to play along."

"And we're going to win," Maggie said. "Audrey and Emma are already at the orphanage by now. They're going to find him, and they're going to rescue him."

"Oh, Maggie," the killer said. "I thought you knew me better than that."

Maggie's breath caught in her throat. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"That would be a very simple game," the killer said. "And things have never been simple between you and I."

"I'm leaving," Maggie said, already on the way towards her car. "I'm going to get Emma and Audrey right now. And the cops are already on the way."

The killer laughed. "You made your move, Maggie. It's my turn now. You can try to catch up, but you'll never make it there in time."

Maggie climbed into her car and started the engine. "Like Hell I won't," she said. She ended the call, and started to drive.

* * *

 "He isn't picking up," Audrey said, as they pulled up to the orphanage.

"Neither is Stavo," Emma said. "Or Brooke."

"That bastard cut us off," Audrey said. She cut the brake. "Whatever he's doing, he's not going to get away with it."

"Do you have your gun?" Emma asked.

Audrey shook her head. "I left it at home." She dug around in the backseat, producing a tire iron. "This is all I've got."

"Then we'll have to make due," Emma said. They got out of the car, and headed towards the orphanage.

"Are you going ot be okay to go in?" Audrey asked.

"Does it matter?" Emma asked. "We're going in. Now." She took a breath and tried the door. The lock had already been broken, and all she had to do was give it a push.

"This place is huge," Audrey said. "How are we going to find anyone in here?"

As if in answer, Emma's phone rang. It was a call from an unknown number.

"We came to the orphanage," Emma said as soon as she picked it up. "We played your game. Now where is he?"

"One step at a time," the killer said. "Do you know why I chose the orphanage?"

"I'm not here to play mind games with you," Audrey said. "I'm here to rescue my friend."

"Don't get me mad," the killer said. "Or your friend will have to pay for it."

"Shit," Audrey said. "He definitely has someone here."

"Let's split up," Emma said.

"No," Audrey said. "That's exactly what the killer wants."

"It's the only way to find him."

"It's going to get even more of us killed," Audrey said. "And I'm not letting that happen. We're staying together."

"You got us here," Emma said into the phone. "And then you called us. So tell us where to go."

"You're smart girls," the killer said. "Figure it out."

The phone cut out. "Shit!" Audrey said. She put her hands behind her head, turning around the room as if somehow she would see something.

"It's got to have something to do with Kieran," Emma said. "Something to do with that night."

"The  bedroom!" Audrey said, her eyes suddenly lit up. "Where you figured out that it was him."

They both ran up the stairs and down the hall, surprised by the muscle memory of where the room was. Neither of them had been back here since that night, but it had been enough that they knew exactly where to go.

But when they got there, the room was empty. "This is it, isn't it?" Emma asked. "This has to be the right room."

"Maybe we were wrong," Audrey said. "Where else could it be?"

Audrey's phone rang. Certain that it must be the killer, Audrey picked up. "Where the Hell is he?"

"Am I 'he'?"

The voice on the other end of the phone wasn't the killer. It was Noah. "I'm so sorry, I just saw I have like twenty missed calls from you. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just working with Stavo."

Emma looked at Audrey. "You're with Stavo?" Audrey asked. "Like, the two of you are together right now?"

"Yeah," Noah said. "You sound freaked out, are you okay?"

"I have to go," Audrey said, and immediately hung up.

"He doesn't have either of them," Emma said.

"We need to get out of here," Audrey said. "Now."

They ran back towards the stairs, but before they got there, they heard a noise behind them. "Just go," Audrey said. "Don't look."

But as the footsteps continued, Emma couldn't stop herself from checking.

It was him. Ghostface. Right on their heels. Emma grabbed Audrey's hand and they flew down the stairs, through the hall and towards the door. They were almost there when Emma felt a hand on her shoulder. Without a beat Audrey turned around, striking him with the tire iron in her hand. She hit him hard in the stomach. He crumpled, his grip sliding down Emma's arm but not letting go. Audrey hit him in the arm, harder than before. He let go, and Audrey pulled Emma towards the door.

Just as they got there, Maggie ran up. "It was a trap," she said. "He doesn't have anyone."

"We know," Audrey said. "Let's go before he gets up."

They raced out of the orphanage and into Maggie's car, which was significantly closer than Audrey's. Maggie got into the driver's seat and pulled away just as Emma and Audrey climbed into the back.

"I'm calling the police and telling them that he was in there," Maggie said, already dialing. "Are you girls okay? Did he do anything to you?"

Audrey looked at Emma, placing a hand on her shoulder right where the killer's had been. "I'm okay," Emma said. "He almost got me, but Audrey saved me." Again, she thought to herself. Gratitude welled up inside of her, to the point that she could have kissed her.

Audrey had saved her, again.

 


	14. Anyone's Game, Part 2

"And then Audrey hit his arm with the tire iron," Emma said. The five of them were sitting in her living room. She had wanted to meet at Brooke's, but her mother had insisted they come here instead. There was a cop car stationed outside, and Maggie was on the phone with Troy trying to talk him into leaving Lakewood. "He let go and we got away."

Emma tightened her grip on Audrey's arm. Ever since they had gotten out of the orphanage, she hadn't wanted to let go of her. It wasn't just what had happened. It was all of the memories that came flooding back. Finding out that it was Kieran. Almost losing Audrey. It was just too much to bear alone.

"So he didn't have anyone," Brooke said. "He was just trying to get the two of you there."

"I guess," Audrey said.

"But that doesn't make sense," Noah said. "Why would he lure you there without some sort of big finale planned?"

"Maybe it was supposed to be the finale," Emma said.

Noah shook his head. "There was no fanfare. He's only killed a few people. There's no way that that's the end of it."

Brooke took Stavo's hand. "And you're sure you haven't heard from him?" she asked. "He wasn't like, at your house this morning trying to get you?"

"Just an ordinary morning," Stavo said.

"It makes sense now that I think about it," Audrey said. "I mean, he was here, watching us. He probably went to the orphanage after seeing us go in that direction."

"Jesus," Brooke said. "Remind me again why this is the safest place for us to meet up?"

"My mom is just so freaked out about all of this," Emma said.

Audrey's phone buzzed. It was on vibrate, but Emma was close enough that she could hear it in her pocket. They were all quiet as Audrey took her phone out and checked the number. "It's just Gina," she said. "I, um, I better get going, actually. I was going to meet up with her."

"I'll walk you out," Emma said. Audrey hadn't mentioned seeing Gina, and the look on Audrey's face didn't make her feel good about this.

"I'll check in with you later, okay?" Audrey said, already halfway out the door.

"Please tell me that's actually Gina," Emma said. "Please,  _please_ tell me you're not, like, going to talk to the killer alone."

"Not unless I was right about Gina being the killer," Audrey said. She showed Emma her phone. "But I don't think it's her anymore. I just... I need to talk with her. I need to be sure."

"Are you sure this is the best time, though?" Emma asked.

Audrey looked at her. She didn't want to go. She hated the thought of leaving Emma after a day like today. They needed each other.

And that was exactly why she had to go. Gina had made it clear that she was going to have to choose between the two of them. Now was the time to do it.

"I'm sure," Audrey said.

"Be safe, okay?" Emma asked.

Audrey squeezed her hand. "I will."

* * *

When Audrey arrived at Gina's, she was sweating. She had never broken up with anyone. There had been a couple of boys back in early high school, but none of them had been serious. Things always just fizzled out. And then there had been Rachel, but...

She couldn't think about what had happened with Rachel.

She got out of the car and rang the bell. When Gina opened the door she looked surprised. "I can't believe you actually showed up."

"Yeah, well," Audrey said. She couldn't start an argument now. If she did, she was never going to get through this. She followed Gina down the hall and into her room.

"So, what's so important that it required us talking in person?" Gina asked, taking a seat on her bed.

Audrey took a deep breath. "I need to ask you something," she said. "And it's probably going to sound stupid, but..." Gina sat there, waiting. "Why do you hate Emma so much?"

"Seriously?" Gina asked. "This is about Emma? Again? I don't hate her, Audrey. You're being paranoid."

"I need to know the truth, Gina," Audrey said, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't care what it is, I just need to know so that I stop imagining scenarios that are way worse."

Gina sighed. "How many times do we have to go through this? You keep asking me, and I keep giving you the same answer."

"Someone is killing my friends, Gina," Audrey said. Gina was right: they had the same conversation over and over, just going around in circles. Today Audrey was going to change that. All she needed was to hear Gina say that she had nothing to do with this, and then they could break up and Audrey could move on. "I just need to know that it isn't you."

"I'm sorry," Gina said, standing up. "Are you accusing me of murder?"

"I've trusted bad people before, okay?" Audrey said. She started pacing, looking at the floor because she couldn't bring herself to look into Gina's eyes. "I literally brought Piper to Lakewood. I am the reason that people are dead. And the whole time I had no idea that it was her. So no, I'm not accusing you. I'm just making sure that I'm not wrong again."

Gina shook her head. "This is because of Halloween, isn't it?" she asked. "God, I never should have gone."

Audrey stopped. "What does this have to do with Halloween?"

"Just... you were mad at me that night, too," Gina said. But Audrey could tell that something was off. Gina wasn't a good liar, and she was clearly hiding something.

"Tell me," Audrey said, through gritted teeth.

"I thought you were cheating on me with her," Gina said. Her voice was shaking, and she was wringing her hands. "I was angry. I just wanted to scare her a little, I wasn't trying to hurt her or anything. I definitely wasn't going to kill her, Jesus."

"What do you mean you were trying to scare her?" Audrey asked. Her heart was pounding. All of this time, she had let the way that Gina treated Emma slide. She had continued to date her, despite all of the shit that Gina put her through. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have allowed that to go on?

Gina swallowed. "I wrote that message on the wall," she said. "And I also put on the Anna Hobbes mask and jumped out at her with the hedge clippers. But I wasn't actually going to hurt her! I just wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine."

"Her own medicine?" Audrey asked. She was still trying to process all of this. How could Gina have done that? How could Audrey have not known? "You thought that I was cheating on you with her and so you decided that the appropriate response was to trigger her PTSD by pretending to be a murderer?"

"It wasn't like that," Gina said. "And I didn't actually even do anything. It's not great, I get that, but it's really not that big of a deal."

Audrey stared at her, seething. She hated Gina. She hated her for doing what she had done, and she hated her for not understanding how fucked up it was. But more than that, she hated herself. She had let this person into her life. Maybe she wasn't as bad as Piper, but that was a low bar. Once again she had made a bad choice, and once again that choice had put Emma in danger.

"It's over, Gina," Audrey said, her hand on the doorknob. "And I never want to hear from you. Ever."

"Audrey, please," Gina said, reaching out for her.

"And don't touch me, either," Audrey said, pulling her hand away. "Don't come anywhere near me, or Emma, or any of my friends. Ever again."

"What about work?" Gina called as Audrey left the house.

"I quit," Audrey called back, giving Gina the finger for good measure as she walked back to her car.

She had to see Emma.

* * *

Emma was surprised that Audrey had asked to meet her at the old stable after everything that had happened there, but when she arrived, she couldn't bring herself to ask why. Audrey was sitting with her back against the barn wall, one leg outstretched and one pulled in close to her chest. Audrey didn't cry much, but Emma could see that her eyes were red. She took a seat next to Audrey, her knee knocking against Audrey's as she sat down.

"Thanks for coming," Audrey said.

"Of course," Emma said. "I take it things didn't go too well."

"I owe you an apology," Audrey said.

"No you don't," Emma said. She hated to see Audrey like this. She pulled a dandelion out of the grass, absentmindedly twirling it in her fingers. There was a daffodil patch not too far away. Maybe when the moment was right she would go and pick some for Audrey.

"I do," Audrey said. She turned to Emma. "Did someone jump out at you wearing the Anna Hobbes mask on Halloween?"

Emma thought back. "Yeah," she said. "But that was Alex. Well, not Alex, but you know what I mean."

"No, it wasn't," Audrey said. "It was Gina, trying to scare you. And so was the writing on the wall. That was her way of getting back at you because she thought I was cheating on her."

"Oh my God," Emma said. Suddenly it all started to fit together. The holes from that night were being filled in. But she didn't feel betrayed, or angry. More than anything she felt relieved. And then she felt guilty for having any sort of positive feeling while Audrey was hurt. "Audrey, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Audrey said. "I trusted the wrong person. Again. And I put you in danger. Again."

"You can't do that to yourself," Emma said. "Gina isn't Piper. You weren't putting me in danger."

"Maybe not physical danger," Audrey said. "But emotional danger. She wouldn't have done all of that shit to you if it wasn't for me."

"Audrey," Emma said, placing a hand on her arm. Audrey shrugged it off at first, and then leaned back into it. "I don't blame you. I feel horrible that she was lying to you. But in the end... she doesn't get to have you." Emma's heart was beating with a speed that she couldn't quite figure out. "And that's her loss."

Audrey looked back at Emma. She was so beautiful, with the light hitting her hair like that. And she was so kind. Too kind. Kinder than Audrey deserved.

And suddenly all of those residual feelings were back in full force, hitting her like a wall. It had always been Emma. The idea of "residual feelings" was some bullshit excuse that she had made up for herself. But she couldn't tell Emma that. Not now, not with everything going on.

"What is it?" Emma asked. She could tell that something had shifted, but she couldn't tell exactly what.

"Nothing," Audrey said. "It's nothing, really."

"You can tell me," Emma said. A knot was forming in her stomach trying to figure out what Audrey was thinking. "You can tell me anything, you know that."

The last thing that Audrey wanted was to make Emma's life more complicated than it was. But she also knew that there was no way she could lie to her. "Gina was right," Audrey said. "Not that I was cheating on her with you, but..." she bit her lip. "She was right about me still being in love with you." Emma just stared back. Audrey felt like she was going to die. "And I'm really,  _reall_ _y_ sorry if that puts you in a weird place. Things between us don't have to change, and I'll get over it, but I just... no more lies between us, you know? I had to be honest with you."

And suddenly it all made sense to Emma. The sense of comfort that she had when she was around Audrey. The hand-holding and the desire to be close to her. The way that she thought about their future together. The way that all of that made her feel sick in a way that she couldn't put a name to.

It was love. That's what it was. And that's what it had always been.

"Em?" Audrey asked.

And without wasting any more time, Emma kissed her. She pulled her feet up underneath her, placing a hand on the back of Audrey's neck and bringing her towards her. Audrey responded, leaning in towards Emma and putting a hand on her waist, on her bare skin just above the waistline of her pants. Emma had kissed plenty of boys, but this was so different that it was like having a first kiss all over again. For the tough act that she put on, Audrey felt so soft; her lips and her cheek and her waist. But her arms were so strong, and sitting there, kissing Audrey, Emma felt safe.

 _You will feel safe again._ That's what Kieran had told her. He could never have imagined how right he was.

And then Emma's phone rang. She ignored it at first. She had finally figured out that this was what she had wanted. And she  _had_ it. She was here, kissing Audrey, and everything felt right with the world for just a moment.

But her phone kept ringing. "You better check that," Audrey said, pulling away. "Just in case."

Emma bit her lip, and pulled out her phone. "Shit," she said, picking up. "What do you want?"

"Round two," the killer said. "The game's not over yet."


	15. Anyone's Game, Part 3

Emma looked at Audrey, frozen.

“What do you mean?” Audrey asked.

“You didn’t really think we were done, did you?” the voice asked. “It’s not fun and games unless somebody dies.”

Emma’s heart began to race. “Get to the point,” she said.

“You seemed so disappointed earlier when I didn’t have your friends,” he said.

Emma’s eyes got wide. “No,” she said.

“Why should we believe you?” Audrey asked. “Last time it was just a trap. Why shouldn’t we just stay as far away from you as possible?”

“If that’s a risk you’re willing to take,” the voice said. The call abruptly cut out.

“Do you think he really has them?” Audrey asked.

“I don’t know,” Emma said. “He wouldn’t pull the same trick twice, would he?”

Audrey brought her hands behind her head. “I don’t know,” she said. “He’s unpredictable. I just feel like… he knows that we were happy for five seconds and he wants to ruin that.”

Before Emma could respond, her phone buzzed again. This time it was a video. She opened it up to reveal Noah and Stavo. They were on a stage somewhere, tied up against half-built scenery with their mouths gagged.

“Oh my God,” Audrey said. “That’s the auditorium at school. I was in there the other day, that’s exactly what the stage looks like right now.”

The camera panned around to reveal Ghostface. Someone screamed, but it came out muffled, and then the video ended. A text popped up:

_ NO COPS. NO MOMS. _

_ TIME’S TICKING. _

“Time’s ticking,” Emma said. “What is that supposed to mean?”

An hourglass popped up on Emma’s phone, with a countdown clock underneath it. It started at twenty minutes, the numbers going down as seconds passed.

“It means we need to get out of here,” Audrey said. “Now.”   
  


* * *

  

When Audrey and Emma arrived at the school, Brooke was just getting out of her car.

“How much time do we have?” Brooke asked.

Emma looked at the hourglass on her phone. “About five minutes,” she said.

Without another word, Brooke walked up to the door and tried pulling. “Shit,” she said. “It’s locked.”

“There’s a door by the theater,” Audrey said. “I think I can get it open.”

They ran around to the other side of the building and Audrey tried the door. It stuck at first, but Audrey jiggled the handle and pulled on the door until it gave way. She was running down the aisle and up onstage in an instant, Brooke and Emma close behind her. The house lights were off. A spotlight on the stage illuminated Noah and Stavo, tied up to the scenery with their mouths gagged just as they had been in the video.

As Audrey and Brooke started to untie Noah and Stavo, Emma searched the theater for the killer. She had expected him to be here, waiting for them to show up. But even though she couldn’t see him, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was here somewhere, lurking in shadows.

“The light booth,” Noah said as soon as Audrey had his gag off. “He’s in the light booth.”

Suddenly an alarm went off on Emma’s phone. She pulled it out to see what was going on, and saw that the hourglass the killer had sent her had run out. The spotlight flickered, and then went out. They were left in pitch black, with no way to tell where anyone was.

“Move,” Audrey said, loudly. “Move around so that you can confuse him.”

They all did as Audrey said, but the sound of their shoes on the stage and in the aisles didn’t seem like it was going to aid in him not being able to find him. Emma stopped, trying to get her heartbeat to slow down enough that she would be able to hear something that would give the killer away.

Someone screamed from backstage. It sounded like Stavo.

“No!”

That was definitely Brooke. Emma ran towards her, tripping on the way up the stairs. There was another scream—higher pitched this time—and Emma tried not to think too hard about how serious it sounded. She had to think about getting there. She had to focus.

That was all that she could really do.

“Brooke!” Stavo called. Emma moved towards his voice, coming from a slightly different place than where she had been headed. She bumped into someone on the way. Was it Brooke? Was it the killer? She couldn’t stop to find out. She reached the edge of the stage by crashing into it, and pulled herself up over the edge. Just as she did, the stage lights went on.

It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the light, but as soon as they did, her body was in motion again. There was Brooke, lying centerstage. A pool of blood surrounded her, coming from her stomach. She was gasping, reaching for words but none were coming.

Stavo had moved quickly onto the floor next to her, holding her head in his lap and putting pressure on the wound. “Talk to me, Brooke,” he said. “Talk to me, tell me you’re okay.”

“I can’t,” Brooke finally managed. “It hurts. Too much.”

“I know,” Stavo said. “I know, but hang in there.”

Just as Emma was going to join him, a sound at the back of the theater made them all look up. It was hard to see with the lights in their faces, but she could just make out that the door had opened.

Which meant the killer was on his way out.

“Stay with Brooke,” Audrey said, already on her way out.

“It’s not safe,” Emma said.

“I’ve got it,” Audrey said forcefully. There was an anger in her eyes that Emma knew too well. “Stay with Brooke. I don’t want to waste anymore time.”

Emma nodded and turned back. Stavo was talking to Brooke, trying to keep her conscious as Noah called for an ambulance. She took a seat across from Stavo and took Brooke’s hand.

“You’re okay, Brooke,” she said. “You’re going to be okay. The ambulance is on the way.”

But Brooke didn’t look okay. Stavo was doing his best with where she had been stabbed but there was still blood coming out of it, soaking through the sweatshirt he was using to bandage it and smearing across his hands. Brooke’s gaze was unfocused. She wasn’t speaking, or even making as much sound anymore. Emma glanced at Stavo, and she could see that he was crying.

“Stay with us,” Emma said, squeezing Brooke’s hand even harder. But she could feel that Brooke’s grip was loosening. Slipping away.

And then, suddenly, Brooke seemed to get some of her strength back. Her breathing was labored, and she sputtered a bit, but she also seemed like she was somewhat aware. “We tried,” she said. "So hard." Her voice was quiet and hoarse, with deep shaking breaths between every word. “This isn't. How it ends.”

And then, just as suddenly, the strength left. Her hand went limp. Her breathing stopped. Emma knew before she checked, but she couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact with anyone. Once she did that, that was when she would know for sure that it was true.

“No.” It was Noah who finally spoke. “No, no, no. She’s a survivor. She's the strongest one of all of us. She's the one who can take anything. She can’t be—he can’t—”

“I couldn’t catch him,” Audrey said, bursting through the door. “I was so  _ fucking _ close, but then he got away. But he left this—” She stopped when she got close enough to see Emma’s face.

And that was when it finally sunk in. Emma didn’t have to say anything. She didn’t even cry, too numb to the pain at this point. She just shook her head, and then Audrey knew too. Audrey walked up onto the stage, straight past Emma, and over to where Brooke’s body was lying. She put a hand on Stavo’s shoulder. “We’re going to get this bastard,” she said. Her voice was even, but seething. “He’s not going to get away with this.”

The sound of sirens was faint at first, and then louder, and then there the EMTs were rushing through the door. Emma was vaguely aware of what was happening around her, falling into the pattern of saying and doing what she was supposed to while letting her mind drift away from what was actually happening. She thought instead about the blanket they had put around her shoulders. The feeling of water in her dry throat. Audrey’s shoulder touching her shoulder. Audrey’s hand in her hand.

When her mother showed up, Emma had no idea who had been the one to call her and let her know what had happened. “I’m sorry,” Maggie said, hugging her. “I am so, so sorry I didn’t stop him before he did this.”

“Mom, there’s nothing—”

“What is that?” Maggie asked, pointing to a piece of paper in Audrey’s hand.

“It’s a stupid note the killer left,” Audrey said. “Taunting us about the murder, same as usual.”

Maggie’s face was blank. “You’re sure this is something the killer wrote for you?” she asked. “It couldn’t have been something old that he found and left here?”   


“I don’t think so,” Audrey said. “Why?”

Maggie hesitated before finally answering. “Because this is Brandon’s handwriting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of why it has taken me so long to get this chapter done was that I didn't want to kill off anyone major, but I also felt like it would be a disservice to the genre if I didn't. So, this is where that got me. I'm sorry and I hate it and if they had actually done this on the show I would have been so upset, but plotwise, it was the only thing that really made sense. So that's why it took me so long to get this out here. I've only got a few chapters left, so hopefully it won't be too long before I have those for you as well.


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